Hay

by Paul Muldoon

My heart is heavy. For I saw Fionnuala,
"The Gem of the Roe," "The Flower of Sweet Strabane,"
when a girl reached down into a freezer bin
to bring up my double scoop of vanilla.
-"White Shoulders"

Seamus Heaney has called his colleague Paul Muldoon "one of the era's true originals." While Muldoon's previous book, The Annals of Chile, was poetry at an extreme of wordplay and formal complexity, Hay is made up of shorter, clearer lyric poems, retaining all of Muldoon's characteristic combination of wit and profundity but appealing to the reader in new and delightful ways. His eighth book, it is also his most inviting-full of joy in language, fascination with popular culture, and enthusiasm for the writing of poetry itself. This is the first of his books to really capture the effect of America on his poetic sensibility, which is like a magnet for impressions and the miscellany of the culture.

Genres: Poetry, Read For School

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Born in Northern Ireland, Muldoon currently resides in the US and teaches at Princeton University. He held the chair of Professor of Poetry at Oxford University from 1999 through 2004. In September 2007, Muldoon became the poetry editor of The New Yorker.

Awards:
1992: Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize for Madoc: A Mystery
1994: T. S. Eliot Prize for The Annals of Chile
1997: Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Poetry for New Selected Poems 1968–1994
2002: T. S. Eliot Prize (shortlist) for Moy Sand and Gravel
2003: Griffin Poetry Prize (Canada) for Moy Sand and Gravel
2003: Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Moy Sand and Gravel
2004: American Ireland Fund Literary Award
2004: Aspen Prize
2004: Shakespeare Prize

Reviews

[Goodreeds User · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very clever. Mostly difficult, mostly rewarding. Sometimes cleverer than it needs to be

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

this guy came to st. lawrence when i was a junior and spoke in one of my classes. the church bells were ringing at 5pm, and i said "that sounds like the flinstones theme." and paul muldoon, an irishman nonetheless, turns to me and says "did you say 'the thong song'"

[Millardm10]

Summer Reading assignment. It was the first full book of poetry I ever read but it was fantastic.

[Jo O'Donnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some solid pieces, especially to do with rural life, tinged with occasional Baby Boomer nonsense. No one is asking for pages upon pages of verse liner notes for your favorite rock bands and albums.

[Smarani Komanduri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a huge poetry fan, but this book definitely inspired me to start reading more poetry and try my hand at writing poetry again!

[Ayesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I imagine Muldoon's wild antics are as difficult to sift through as his Mudroom, and, although we are well aware of his mad-genius, one finds oneself wishing that he would come out from behind his obscure references, look the reader in the eye and give us something real.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Muldoon's playful thinking of all the ways "end" can be interpreted and applied to poetry.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bears mutiple rereadings.

[Sandra Miksa · Rating 2 out of 5]

At first, I hated the Hay Poems. I couldn't get through it. It made me realize how easy it is to hate something when you don't understand it - ignorance ties in perfectly with hate.

After studying the poems more closely; I did not hate them. I do not fully understand or like the poems in this collection. But it is interesting to see Muldoon's take on pastoral poetry and different poetry stanzas form.

My favorite poems were: "The Mudroom," "Lag," and "The Train," which funnily enough are all three poems I have used in my essays for my poetry class.

Muldoon, being an Irish man living in America, is focused on the concept of hybridity all while concealing himself and keeping a distance from his readers.

Overall, a very complicated and interesting and at times frustrating poetic read.