Dharmakaya

by Paula Meehan

In Dharmakaya, Paula Meehan’s fifth collection, the poems move between the timeless, unsituated spirit and its truths, and the living anguish and desire of a dying body that keenly feels its femaleness in an Ireland that is both haunted and hard-wired. “Dharmakaya,” a word she borrows from The Tibetan Book of the Dead, signals the span of the collection’s philosophical a dialogue between western poetics and Buddhism. Her formal concerns as a poet are enacted in gestures both received and open, drawing alike from her tradition and the disruption of that tradition.

Genres: Poetry

65 pages, Hardcover

First published August 31, 2000

About the author

Meehan studied at University College, Dublin and Eastern Washington University in Spokane, Washington.

She has been awarded The Martin Toonder Award (1995), The Butler Literary Award (1998), and the Denis Devlin Award (2002) for her work.

Reviews

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last in my Paula Meehan series, so finally have read all of her collections, absolutely one of my top authors and excited for any future work of hers.
More of the usual from Meehan, although there's a real sense of violence which is perpetuated in cycles. Corporal punishment at school, the endlessly turning wheel of maternal violence/love, the indescribable pain of love and being loved in return.

[Iria · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.5 stars] Not so much my style of poetry but I actually did enjoy some of the poems very much!

[Adithi Chellappan · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5)

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The collection felt a bit inaccessible to me. I just felt that Meehan’s experiences didn’t really align with my own as the topics were a bit more mature and also focused on Irish/Dublin culture.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m very glad I read this. The rhythm of the poems, their meter, and their imagery are powerful. Whether she is writing about sex, life, the inner-city, death, history - there is a wit and sparkle behind these poems. You really feel the poets life in these poems. There was much in here that led me to say - “I’ve got to remember this, hold on to this idea, this image.” Beautiful.

[Linda Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found myself reading Meehan's poems to my family, counting her meter, puzzling over her imagery, this collection totally engaged me.