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A Lil Bit of Lit Crit: Richard Murphy
…il hits the water. She luffs to a squall; is struck; and shudders. Someone is shouting. The boom, weak as scissors, Has snapped. The boatman is praying.” In using the image of sea within much of his poetry, Richard Murphy captivates readers with his remarkable ability to communicate the impact of a scene of action while simultaneously bringing to light the issue of identity. -Posted by Kelly…
Continue ReadingCollected Poems 1952–2000 | Richard Murphy
…into focus the wide poetic range—geographical, formal, and tonal—of which Richard Murphy is master. Shortlisted for the Irish Times Literature Prize in Poetry, 2001 Reviews “Where should one begin to impress the importance of Murphy for anglophone poetry in general? . . . With the publication of this book the time has come to instate Richard Murphy as one of the most important Irish poets of the last century.” – Sewanee Review “His poems, often i…
Continue ReadingRichard Murphy
…rica before moving to Sri Lanka, where he lived until the end of his life. Richard Murphy’s many volumes of poetry include The Archaeology of Love (1955); Sailing to an Ireland (1955, 1963, 1968); The Battle of Aughrim and The God Who Eats Corn (1968); Selected Poems (1979); The Price of Stone and Earlier Poems (1985); New Selected Poems (1989); The Mirror Wall (1989); and Collected Poems (2000). His poetry has also been collected in several antho…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Sea Holly” by Richard Murphy
…Piled over it by waves, and open its eyes? Like yours, the colour of hurt, they want to hide Until in a blaze of blue spikes they explode. –Richard Murphy, from Collected Poems 1952–2000 (2001)…
Continue ReadingRichard Murphy, 1927–2018
…It is with great sadness that Wake Forest University has learned of the poet Richard Murphy’s death. We were proud to be his American publisher, releasing The Price of Stone and Earlier Poems in 1985, The Mirror Wall in 1989, and his Collected Poems in 2001. As Michael Longley noted, “Richard Murphy continues to be a poet of great fortitude and resource, one of the finest of our time.”…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “High Island” by Richard Murphy
…wn to nest Under altar stone or grave. Round the wrecked laura Needles flicker Tacking air, quicker and quicker To rock, sea, and star. —Richard Murphy, from Collected Poems 1953-2000 …
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Kassapa” by Richard Murphy
…ir souls: And sheathed the rock-head in a lion mask To father a strong race, out of whose mouth At festivals he made great fountains pour. –Richard Murphy, from Collected Poems 1952–2000 (2001)…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Seals at High Island” by Richard Murphy
…ngs pity trembling down the rocky spine Of headlands, till the bitter ocean’s tongue Swells in their cove, and smothers their sweet song. – Richard Murphy, from Collected Poems 1952–2000 (2001)…
Continue ReadingThe Price of Stone and Earlier Poems
…– Joseph Sendry, Irish University Review “I welcome The Price of Stone as Richard Murphy’s best collection so far. From book to book, in fact, Murphy has made his language more supple, more inclusive, drawing deeper and more complex areas of his identity into the light . . . Witty, inventive, fit—the language of The Price of Stone is full of such remarkable animations.” – Eamon Grennan, Finding Irish Poetry in the Twentieth Century “We can live w…
Continue ReadingThe Mirror Wall
…h vivid clarity, and agile nuances of tone.” – Andrew Waterman, PN Review “Richard Murphy’s verse is classical in a way that demonstrates what the classical strengths really are. It combines a high music with simplicity, force and directness in dealing with the world of action. He has the gift of epic objectivity: behind his poems we feel not the assertion of his personality, but the actuality of events, the facts and sufferings of history.” – Ted…
Continue ReadingEiléan Ní Chuilleanáin
…s a major poet in the generation after Thomas Kinsella, John Montague, and Richard Murphy, but also as the foremost female poet now writing in Ireland and Great Britain. In 1992, she was awarded the prestigious O’Shaughnessy Poetry Award by The Irish American Cultural Institute. Her previous volumes include Acts and Monuments (1966), which won the Patrick Kavanagh Award; Site of Ambush (1975); The Second Voyage (1977), which included selections fr…
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