Contemporary Irish Poetry and the Pastoral Tradition

Contents

Contents Preface ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1 A Lost Pastoral Rhythm: The Poetry of John Montague 19 Chapter 2 “The God in the Tree”: Seamus Heaney and the Pastoral Tradition 45 Chapter 3 “Love Poems, Elegies: I am losing my place” Michael Longley’s Environmental Elegies 75 Chapter 4 Learning the Lingua Franca of a Lost Land Eavan Boland’s Suburban Pastoral 98 Chapter 5 “In My Handerkerchief of a Garden” Medbh McGuckian’s Miniature Pastoral Retreats 118 n vii Chapter 6 “When Ireland Was Still under a Spell”: Miraculous Transformations in the Poetry of Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill 139 Conclusion The Future of Pastoral 162 Notes 179 Bibliography 193 Index 207 Contents viii ...