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Time and Place
He gave me his coat once in Dublin
At dusk in a damp, chilly draft.
We spoke of those old Irish writers—
Just where had they mastered their craft?
Did Wilde wield his pen in Dun Laoghaire
While pausing beside the cold sea,
Or did he spin thoughts in the meadows
In solitude, pensive yet free.
Was Yeats writing verses in Dalkey
Where others were daubing with paint,
Or did he retreat to Kilkenny
Or villages even more quaint?
And Joyce—did he find inspiration
Near the castle in old Malahide,
Or was he engrossed by the river
When fishing boats swayed in the tide?
Their work was a quest, a conviction;
Their concepts a challenge to hone.
A method made fit with each writer,
The setting was each to his own.
They’d searched through the wisdom of ages
Like that which is done by a sleuth,
Their stories and verses unfolding
By digging and delving for truth.
The next year, returning to Dublin,
Again in that air of mystique,
I felt something real of those writers;
‘Twas almost as if they could speak.
.
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Margaret Brinton has lived in San Diego’s inland valley area for over forty years where she taught and tutored. Her poems have recently been published in California Quarterly and Westward Quarterly and The Lyric with upcoming work in the greeting card industry.
Margaret this is a wonderful poem incorporating the perspectives possibly provided by and for some of the great Irish authors. The poem flowed with attention to detail, rhythm, and rhyme. This was a special treat on my Sunday afternoon. By the way, I am familiar with the inland valley near San Diego having once lived in Oceanside.
Margaret, the “Time and Place” question about Ireland’s literary giants is a most intriguing one. Wilde, Yeats, and Joyce all were Irish by choice but much else as well. Your poem is an excellent way to set out the “mystique” each of them exemplifies and captures in his work, despite their many associations with other places and influences. Your opening stanza, with an unnamed Irishman providing you a cloak for comfort, opens your series of questions about the three great writers. Stanzas 5 and 6 become less and less particularized, in effect saying these queries cannot be answered, except that each of the three Irish writers was a being unto himself in imaginative thought. The final stanza is mysterious as well, because returning to Dublin a year later, you the speaker find something real of them in experiencing the place again. It’s an effective conclusion to an unfathomable search that has yet become satisfying.
Almost an unreal feeling it is to visit the places where the great poets once thrived, breathe the air they breathed, and ponder on their works. This is a beautiful and lively piece, Margaret.
Enjoyed this poem very much, Margaret,
for its cadence, rhyme and information about places in their lives. Loved the closing line.
To Roy and Ms. Coats and Shamik and JD,
Thank you all for taking the time to comment on my poem. I appreciate your favorable comments and your helpful insight.
A pleasant gallop through the Emerald Isle and the birth places of some of its literary luminaries. Inspiring, Margaret.
I’ve been to many of the places you mentioned (but can’t pronounce them all). I know very little about Yeats and Joyce but am now motivated to remediate that shortcoming. Wilde, on the other hand, has many quotes that I throw around quite often when I want to sound smart and insightful. This was a very entertaining poem.
To Paul and Warren,
Your comments have inspired my morning! Thank you both!
Isn’t it just wonderful how words linger long after an exceptional poet is gone from this earth. I like the way you capture the essence of their songs as you immerse the reader in the wonder of their homeland. I particularly like the Wilde stanza with the image of him spinning “thoughts in the meadows / In solitude, pensive yet free.” – I connect with those beautiful words wholeheartedly. Margaret, thank you!
Keep it up, Maggie. Right now you might be the best thing to come out of California we have seen in a long time.
To Susan and C.B.
Thank you both for your supportive feedback. This motivates me!