The Penguin Book Of Irish Poetry

by Patrick Crotty

The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry features the work of the greatest Irish poets, from the monks of the ancient monasteries to the Nobel laureates W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney, from Jonathan Swift and Oliver Goldsmith to Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, along with a profusion of lyrics, love poems, satires, ballads and songs. Reflecting Ireland's complex past and lively present, this collection of Irish verse is an indispensable guide to the history, culture and romance of one of Europe's oldest civilizations.

In his introduction to this new Penguin Classics edition, Patrick Crotty explores the traditions of poetry in Ireland, and relates the rich variety of the poems to the long and frequently troubled history of the island.

Genres: Poetry, Ireland, Irish Literature, Fiction, Anthologies, Literature

1043 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

Patrick Crotty is emeritus Professor of Irish and Scottish Literature at the University of Aberdeen. He has published widely on Irish, Scottish, welsh and American poetry, has been a regular reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement since 1992. His verse translations have featured in many books and periodicals. He edited Modern Irish Poetry: An Anthology (1995) and The Penguin Book of Irrish Poetry (2010). He has also edited the firt volume (1908 - 1930) of the annotated Complete Collected Poems of Hugh MacDiarmid.

Reviews

[Philipp Sorge · Rating 5 out of 5]

And he who never saw you
Has lived and died a fool.

[MyBookAffair]

What a beautiful book! It's huge - with 1120 pages. Such a wonderful present... I know it will be a beloved companion over the coming years. With a foreword by Seamus Heaney, I just can't wait to get dug in.

[Ciarán · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some odd choices

[Judyta Szacillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, a disclaimer: I'm not particularly receptive to poetry, I don't read it often, and I'm largely ignorant of most of that there is. But, very occasionally, I feel a need to dive into it, either looking for inspiration, or because I've read something else that has pointed me there.

Obviously, I have not read all the contents of this book. It's a thousand pages long anthology! I imagine it must be the most comprehensive of all. The contents are divided into nine wide-ranging sections in a not too exact chronological order. Poems are separated from songs, though the editor admits that the boundaries between them are porous. There are translations from Latin and Irish as well as works originally written in English (including Middle English).

Just skimming through this immense collection took me several days. I've properly read perhaps one twentieth of what there is, or maybe even less, but it was enough to reassure me in the belief I share with quite many others that the Irish are generally damn good at poetry.

That is not to say that I loved every bit of it. As I said earlier, I'm not really that much into poetry. Especially not contemporary poetry, with the exception of Seamus Heaney. But there was one piece that I would like to mention especially, because it rang very strong with me. It's a famous poem by W. B. Yeats - I knew of its existence but never read it until now - 'Easter 1916'. Its the kind of poetry that leaves one's heart hammered.

[segosha · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's difficult to decide when I can officially count this as read, but I've owned it for a year now and I don't think there's many poems left in it that I haven't read at least once. One of my very favourite books that I own - it has pride of place on my bookshelf now that's moved away from my bedside locker

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

John F. Deane poetry!