All Through the Night: Night Poems and Lullabies

by Marie Heaney

This new anthology from Poetry Ireland includes a wide selection of night poems and lullabies, to prepare readers of all ages for the shelter of untroubled sleep. Included are 'grown up' night poems like Alicante Lullaby, Sylvia Plath's description of her desire for sleep in the hustle and bustle of a Spanish resort, WH Auden's musical and soothing love poem Lullaby, Titania's sleep soliloquy from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and John Keats' beauitful Ode to a Nightingale . The anthology also contains many tender poems reflecting a parent's experience of watching over children while they sleep, including Eavan Boland's/b> Night Feed, Seamus Heaney's Serenades, and Peter Sirr's PPS. Ireland s rich lullaby tradition is also represented, with lullably and cradle songs to read to young children interspersed throughout the book.

Genres: Poetry

130 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Xenia Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful anthology of lullabies and night poems includes a wide range of voices from William Shakespeare to Shane McGowan and I love the way they have been lovingly arranged here by Marie Heaney. This collection makes for a soothing and inspiring night-time read and it is a book I will continue to dip into. The poem 'When I was a Child' by Tony Curtis reflects was this book is all about:

'When I was a child
my grandmother told me
that unlike the sun and moon
the North Star never moves.
So what does it do? I asked.
Well, she said, it hangs
around all night like a poet
drinking in the darkness,
making its own light
for the joy of others,
like you and me.'