THE AFTERMATH of the Easter Rising saw an outpouring of poetry as the possibility of freedom and nationhood dawned on the people of Ireland.
Thomas MacDonagh, Pádraic Pearse and Joseph Mary Plunkett are among those credited as both poets and political activists of the period – which featured tragedy, transition and an unexpected cultural revival.
Their work - and that of many others from that time - has now been compiled in a 1916 anthology, published this month, of poems selected by Co. Clare academic Mairéad Ashe Fitzgerald.
Its title A Terrible Beauty quotes the infamous verse from WB Yeats’ Easter 1916 ‘All Changed, changed utterly, a terrible beauty is born’, a poem which simply but effectively defined the legacy of the Rising for many.
That poem is one of four from Yeats’ pen which feature in the book, with more from the likes of Eva Gore Booth, Sean O’Casey and Francis Ledwidge also included.
“Poetry had a long history of living underground in the Gaelic tradition, and dreams of nationhood and the longing for freedom found expression in a particular way in poetry,” Ms Fitzgerald explains.
“In the aftermath of the Rising,” she adds, “the executions of the leaders and their callous burial without ceremony in a mass grave generated an outpouring of poetry.
A number of titles inspired by 1916 have been released by O'Brien Press this month“Written by almost every poet who took part in the literary revival, these poems, many of which are placed in this collection, gave words to the depth of anger, pride, grief and identity growing amongst the people.”
A Terrible Beauty - Poetry of 1916 is published by O’Brien Press.
It falls within a range of titles released this month by the publisher inspired by 1916, which include Inside the GPO 1915 – A First-Hand Account and a collection entitled The 16 Lives Series, which offers a set of biographies of the 16 men executed in Easter Rising.
For full details and further information about any of these titles click here
