Being partly Irish, I am drawn to the overall culture and
all things Irish. I love music so I listen
to Irish tunes quite often. I have an
extensive collection of Irish poetry and stories and love to let my eye wander
over pictures of the Irish landscape.
Oh, I neglected to mention my love of Irish food!
I’ve been reading some of the Irish poets lately, W.B.
Yeats, Thomas Moore, Patrick Kavanaugh and Oscar Wilde to name a few. In my poetic contemplation over these
beautiful works I began to notice a great sense of the Irish culture itself
within them. Each piece gave me a
different sense of who the Irish are, what is important to them and how they
live, think and believe.
Some themes I’ve culled from the works I’ve read are the
importance of family and relationships, love of the land, the importance of
history to everyday life, strength of spiritual belief and a great love of life
and living. The Irish are a very proud
and expressive people. They carry their
hearts on their sleeves and live every moment as if it’s their last. Humor sustains them through thick and thin
and their ability to survive is second to none.
All of these qualities of the Irish come through when reading their
poetry. I consider them to be some of
the strongest poets our world has produced.
If you’ve ever wondered why the Irish are so much in love
with their homeland, then you’ve never been there or lost yourself in pictures
of the beautiful, magical landscapes and architecture of this incredible
island.
In his poem The
Lake Isle of Innisfree, W.B. Yeats expresses his desire to return to the
peace and beauty of his home from the wild and raucous streets of London.
“And I
shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.”
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.”
Poet Patrick Kavanaugh expresses the deep
love of a man for his mother in his poem In
Memory of My Mother. I love his optimism for seeing her once again when he,
himself, passes into heaven and his wonderful memories of her very
essence.
“And I think of you walking along a headlandOf green oats in June,
So full of repose, so rich with life –
And I see us meeting at the end of a town.
On a fair day by accident, after
The bargains are all made and we can walk
Together through the shops and stalls and markets
Free in the oriental streets of thought.”
The bargains are all made and we can walk
Together through the shops and stalls and markets
Free in the oriental streets of thought.”
While these are only a couple of examples
of great Irish poetry, you can find many sources for them in your local
bookstore or on various websites like the following:
Find some beautiful images of Ireland
here:
Christian
McLeod Photography: www.cmcleod.com
Inishowen
Photography – www.inishowenphotography.com
Images of
Mayo Landscape Photography of County Mayo, Ireland by Eamonn McCarthy– mayo.photium.com
Irish Dew
Landscape Photography – www.irishdew.com
Try an Irish dish from:
