Book #25

The Great Hunger by Patrick Kavanagh

'I have lived in important places, times

When great events were decided . . .'

By turns comical, grouchy and exalted, and including his tragic masterpiece 'The Great Hunger', some of the key poems by the writer who transformed Anglo-Irish verse.

My poetically inept mind found this one marginally better than the last two poetry offerings in this series. Sweeping fields, ailing crops, and melancholic farmers all contributed to my slightly piqued interest and engagement in verse.

Kavanagh’s tragic depictions and comments on regret and a futile life were beautiful, and depressingly familiar. His words did connect with me at surface level, and I found some breakthroughs, particularly in his descriptions of nature.

Despite those small wins, I still remained encased in a murky fog; perhaps I find poems frightening for their imperceptibility, or perhaps I simply do not have the patience to learn. Whatever the answer, I’ll continue my quest to understand and appreciate poetry.