English Essays

Poetry: Eavan Boland

"Boland communicates rich insights into human experience using language that is both accessible and appealing," Discuss.

Eavan Boland's poetry results in rewarding observations about all-inclusive themes. She manages to convey her thoughts, and sometimes political opinions, through engaging language which is both accessible and appealing to the reader. She employs several techniques to address themes and issues in her own life that are difficult and complex, but uses comprehensible language to make her poetry more accessible.

One way in which Boland articulates rich insights through her poetry is by connecting the past and the present. Time shifts feature in several of her poems, such as, "Love," where she relays her personal experience between herself and her husband. The way in which the poet switches from present to past tense indicates time passing. The tone of nostalgia tinged with regret is reversed when Boland reverts to the present tense again, "I am your wife," and affirms the durability of their love, "We love each other still," Her use of simple language establishes a level of accessibility, yet the poet makes it clear that something has been lost. She questions, "Will we ever love so intensely again?" which expresses the universal experience of passion and excitement deteriorating over time. Boland's blending of the past and the present using both appealing and accessible language provides the reader with an interesting insight into the poet's own relationship.

Boland's work revolves around the dynamics of her relationships, not only with her husband, but with children too. She examines the organic parent-child relationship in much detail in her poem, "The Pomegranate," Boland expresses the affection she has for her daughter, but also the underlying fear of parental loss as her daughter grows up. Boland conveys her hopelessness with symbolism, "The stars are hidden," and considers her options using accessible language. "I could warn her. There is still a chance. The rain is cold," The poet suggests, through short, understandable sentences, that it is a mother should not infringe on her daughter's journey into adulthood. This reassuring and honest conclusion that Boland illustrates makes her poetry easy to engage with. The last two lines of this poem demonstrate a sense of continuation. "If I defer the grief I will diminish the gift. The legend will be hers as well as mine," Boland's use of juxtaposition is appealing to the reader, and she insinuates through classical allusions that her daughter will go through the same experience as herself.

The experiences of modern Irish women are also discussed by Boland. Her poems offer a thought-provoking insight into the treatment of women, particularly in, "The Famine Road," In this poem, Boland compares the behaviour towards infertile women in contemporary Ireland, to the cruelty Trevelyan showed to the victims of the Irish famine. This essentially hyperbolic poem is memorable and provokes a response. She implies that infertility makes a woman, "A typhoid pariah," with "Blood tainted," just like those who dug the roads. This outlines how the natural human feelings of empathy and compassion have been completely disregarded. The use of a powerful and polemical metaphor in the last stanza of her poem proves her point more than ever, in an appealing way. "Barren, never to know the load of his child in you, what is your body now if not a famine road?" The poet links an entire racial experience of defeat and powerlessness with that of a woman's unfortunate, yet human experience of childlessness.

There is a universal appeal to Boland's work because of her use of banalities to lend a distinct relevance to her own personal concerns and experiences. Boland makes excellent use of narrative writing and symbolism in "The Black Lace Fan My Mother Gave Me". She creates a dramatic scenario with clearly drawn settings and characters, in this case, her parents. She employs short, straightforward sentences to communicate the hidden tension between her parents in the early stages of their relationship. "The streets were emptying. The heat was killing. She thought the distance smelled of rain and lightning," The figurative language used to indicate the future of their relationship has an almost cinematic quality, which makes her writing appealing.

Boland views the fan as a manifestation of the love between her parents, writing, "It was stifling" Furthermore, the description of the fan is captivating and accessible. "These are wild roses, appliquéd on silk by hand /darkly picked, stitched boldly, quickly". The detail here is unbelievable, demonstrating her ability to describe objects and to invest them with universal relevance and significance. The fan is a symbol of love, but the examination of the tortoiseshell, "An inference of its violation," transforms it in the poet's imagination, and it becomes a symbol of torture. The fact that she addresses the themes of marriage and relationships through the medium of narrative writing makes her poems appealing and easy to read.

Another technique Boland utilises is vivid imagery and striking images, which convey rich insights into the society she was living in at the time. One particularly solemn and almost shocking poem reflects on the violence that has been inflicted on innocent lives. In, "Child of Our Time," tones of tenderness and bitterness are alternately expressed. There are many negative suggestions and images in the poem, "Living, learn, must learn from you, dead," These are spoken with considerable anger, perhaps with guilt, even by Boland, who realises that, "We should have known how to instruct," Boland advocates that "Broken images," must be rebuilt, implicating that the child is both an icon of suffering, and an emblem of hope for the development of society. The polemical message is put across by a final, key image in the poem which is very emotive and direct, "Our times have robbed your cradle," Her use of comprehensible language makes her poetry accessible to all, and the use of, "Our," signifies the universality of this issue Boland presents.

In conclusion, Eavan Boland's poetry is appealing for a plethora of different reasons; its reflections on relationships and love, its political dimension, and its classical references which create an interesting outlook on the passage of time.