is a perfect introduction to the works of Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh, it is definitely the case for me anyway.
Of course it goes without saying that Kavanagh's epic poem, 'The Great Hunger', is among my favourites from this introductory collection it really hits you hard forcing you to confront your own life decisions, lest you end up like the poem's tragic character Patrick Maguire a man who wasted his life away waiting for nothing to happen.
'Epic' is another favourite of mine, probably the first poem of Kavanagh's I encountered a decade or so ago.
'Consider the Grass Growing' is a really undervalued gem nestled within the collection, a five line poem conveying so much nostalgia, its sensory words transporting you to the poet's memory of walking through a meadow to watch a 'mare that was going to foal'.
I loved this small, compact book and look forward to reading more examples from the Penguin Modern Collection.
sitelinkYoutube video review here
I think this is a,, in my video I sayand when I read it I say, Ultimately I'm a little conflicted, and being a bit lenient, because it's so rare that I find a male poet I can enjoy and also I have a soft spot for Irish writers.
The Great Hunger as an epic poem is quite memorable and unique and with time after reading it I still think back on it being one of the poems that stays with me although, unlike many poems, it's not dramatic and yet it still leaves one worldweary.
The collection has grown on me with time, it's not perfect, and it's not something I'd revisit.
It is hard to deny that has something that needs to be reinvigorated in modern poetry that seems to be missing the timeless and peaceful yet monotonous and deathly nature of the natural world found deep in the countryside.
original thoughts below, Aw this is before I read what turned out to be my favourite book, look how excited I am!
Could've been, rural Irish poetry is new to me.
Taking a break from Penguin Moderns nowdone as I'm picking up my signed copy of Jonathan Franzen's Crossroads from Waterstones tonight! Full review will follow later! Od této jsem bohužel čekala daleko víc
It was a pleasant journey, thank you sincerely
for giving me my madness back, or nearly Really great little set, including the longer “the great hunger”, one of the poets most highly regarded poems.
Personally, as someone with Irish heritage interested in its poetry, I found this a good place for those like myself who struggle more with the references to Irish culture in a poet like Heaney.
The title poem itself is noticeable for its lack of romanticisation of the Irish country, which I found very refreshing, and its undertone of sexual impotency, which could be shocking at times.
Well worth a read! The Great Hunger is a collection of poems by Patrick Kavanagh, He goes into detail about thelife of a potato farmer in Ireland and how his life goes by, It tells a story about this man's relationship with his mother and sister, the passing of time, and the beauty of it all.
This was my first Kavanagh and I was not disappointed, At times it was a little hard to understand some of the poems and the language being used was extremely dated.
But I enjoyed his lyricism and the way he wrote, My favorites had to be "Consider the Grass Growing", "In Memory of My Mother", "October", and "To Hell With Commonsense.
" I'm not the biggest fan of poetry but I can genuinely say this book made me smile at one point.
"The girls pass along the roads
And he can remember what man is,
But there is nothing he can do.
Is there nothing he can do
Is there no escape
No escape, no escape, " Includes both the poem and the play, with textual notes and a critical essay about the works, My poetically inept mind found this one marginally better than the last two poetry offerings in this series, Sweeping fields, ailing crops, and melancholic farmers all contributed to my slightly piqued interest and engagement in verse,
Kavanaghs tragic depictions and comments on regret and a futile life were
beautiful, and depressingly familiar, His words did connect with me at surface level, and I found some breakthroughs, particularly in his descriptions of nature.
Despite those small wins, I still remained encased in a murky fog perhaps I find poems frightening for their imperceptibility, or perhaps I simply do not have the patience to learn.
Whatever the answer, Ill continue my quest to understand and appreciate poetry, I picked this book up as I heard Kavanagh was a big influence on Seamus Heaney, whose works Im currently working my way through.
Im glad I did as I really enjoyed this collection, Kavanaghs poetry has a clarity to it that most poets lack and is laced with humour, I like the way he brings out the deeper essence of the everyday in a way that lacks any kind of pretentiousness.
Inniskeen Road: July Evening
The bicycles go by ion twos and threes
Theres a dance in Billy Brennans barn tonight,
And theres the halftalk code of mysteries
And the winkandelbow language of delight.
Halfpast eight and there is not a spot
Upon a mile of road, no shadow thrown
That might turn out a man or woman, not
A footfall tapping secrecies of stone.
I have what every power hates in spite
Of all the solemn talk of contemplation,
Oh, Alexander Selkirk knew the plight
Of being king and government and nation,
A road, a mile of kingdom, I am king
Of banks and stone and every blooming thing.
My next book: sitelinkMarvel Masterworks: Captain America vol,
October
O leafy yellowness you create for me
A world that was and now is poised above time,
I do not need to puzzle out Eternity
As I walk this arboreal street on the edge of a town.
The breeze too, even the temperature
And pattern of movement is precisely the same
As broke my heart for youth passing.
Now I am sure
Of something, Something will be mine wherever I am,
I want to throw myself on the public street without caring
For anything but the prayering that the earth offers.
It is October over all my life and the light is staring
As it caught me once in a plantation by the fox coverts.
A man is ploughing the ground for winter wheat
And my nineteen years weigh heavily on my feet.
I first came upon this poem a few days prior to leaving for Ireland.
A week later, it came back to me time and time again, and I'd recite it in my head on my way home: it is October over all my life my nineteen years weigh heavily on my feet.
Kavanagh gets it. A much better experience than the first two poetry collections in the Penguin Modern Classics series Ginsburg and Stein, in that these poems were actually intelligible.
Not necessarily easy, mind you, but letting the waves of words wash over me, I could picture clearly the rural Irish setting Kavanagh intended to convey.
The title poem is lengthy and frequently beautiful, Its title evokes the potato famine, but in fact it describes the feelings of an Irish farmer whose life has passed by and left him with no one for company but his overbearing mother and bitter sister.
I'm not a poetry guy, but this was an engaging and poignant collection from a poet of whom I'd never heard before.Read this beauty again :
Fave bits: The Great Hunger VI, In Memory of My Mother, October amp Canal Bank Walk
luf Ive never read any of Kavanaghs poetry before, so this was a great way for me to get into him and to discover what his work is all about.
Hes a bridge between modern and classical poetry, Awesome!
It was OK, I couldn't concentrate really and I don't think I'll ever read it again, Poetry is not my thing sadly, I'm sorry for the bad review, Mr, Kavanagh, but I understood not even half of what you where talking about, . . D:
Maybe I'll give it another go if I find a translation, Een meesterwerk over de rauwe realiteit van het boerenleven in het Ierland van de eerste helft van de vorige eeuw.
Hoofdpersoon van deze gedichtencylclus in veertien canto's is Patrick Maguire, Hij is ongetrouwd, want in het Ierland van die dagen heerste het 'familiarisme', wat wil zeggen dat een man die boer wilde worden pas kon trouwen als zijn ouders waren overleden en hij eigenaar van de boerderij kon worden.
Maguire leeft met zijn zus en heerszuchtige moeder, Hij verlangt naar een vrouw, maar dat verlangen kent alleen een uitweg door masturbatie, Dat Patrick Kavanagh hier zo openlijk over schreef, was in de tijdongehoord, Maar de scenes tonen overtuigend de diepe eenzaamheid van de hoofdpersoon,
Maguire van wie wordt gedacht dat Kavanagh zichzelf in hem portretteerde hij was zelf lange tijd boer is een gevangene van de klei die hij dagelijks bewerkt.
Het gedicht toont zijn leven op de akker, zijn kerkgang en de bijbehorende verstikkende moraal, de armoede, Het landschap biedt hem soms glimpen van God, maar is tegelijk ruw en vaak donker en dreigend,
In het gedicht voert Kavanagh de hoofdpresonen vaak sprekend op, Dat was betrekkelijk nieuw in die dagen, Eliot deed dat ook al in zijn 'The Wasteland', dat overigens net zo'n hopeloosheid ademt, Je zou 'The Great Hunger' de Ierse 'Waste Land' kunnen noemen,
Ik moest bij het lezen vaak denken aan de schilderijen en tekeningen van Van Gogh in zijn Brabantse jaren.
Het gedicht roept als vanzelf de associaties op van een grauw landschap waarin mensen zich door het leven ploeteren.
Met dit gedicht keert Kavanagh zich fel tegen de zogenaamde Irish Literary Revival, waarvan Yeats de belangrijkste exponent was.
Deze beweging romantiseerde het platteland van Ierland en het boerenleven, Kavanagh, die dit leven dus vanuit eigen ervaring kende, maakte er gehakt van, Uit het leven van Maguire sijpelt gaandeweg alle hoop weg, 'He will hardly remember that life happened to him' luidt een zin uit de laatste canto,
De titel 'The Great Hunger' slaat trouwens niet, zoals velen geneigd zijn te denken, op een hongersnood, maar op het seksuele verlangen.
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