There remains some doubt in my mind. Can one’s soul be resurrected? Impecunious, and fearing weak abilities years ago, I traded a love of philosophy for mundane & transitory pursuits. Inching out of that shaky shelter, thank you for what you are doing.
Thank you for a wonderful text. It is strange how much of Ireland's litterature is soaked in ancient greek and latin heritage. I think it has something to do with Irish monks throughout Middle Ages, who diligently worked to keep the glory of old alive and functional. Not a small miracle, to have an island far off Mediterranean, holding steady to its cultural pinacles.
He may be a great poet (the samples above surely aren't representative, are they? Can't be if he's great), but he booted it badly with his translation of Beowulf. Rigid, turgid, and entirely lacking in force or rhythm, despite his insistence in his forward about how he had every intention of keeping the authentic feel of the work. That book turned me off of ever looking at any other of his translations. Sad. But, he's great, right? (For a good, clear and forceful Beowulf, try Tolkien's.)
"The Troubles" as you put it was not a "conflict". It was a murderous terrorist campaign by an evil criminal organization; one your political establishment , inexplicably, sided with against their supposedly great ally forcing that ally's scandalous and gutless surrender, just as we were eradicating that cancer from Ulster.
There remains some doubt in my mind. Can one’s soul be resurrected? Impecunious, and fearing weak abilities years ago, I traded a love of philosophy for mundane & transitory pursuits. Inching out of that shaky shelter, thank you for what you are doing.
Thank you for a wonderful text. It is strange how much of Ireland's litterature is soaked in ancient greek and latin heritage. I think it has something to do with Irish monks throughout Middle Ages, who diligently worked to keep the glory of old alive and functional. Not a small miracle, to have an island far off Mediterranean, holding steady to its cultural pinacles.
He may be a great poet (the samples above surely aren't representative, are they? Can't be if he's great), but he booted it badly with his translation of Beowulf. Rigid, turgid, and entirely lacking in force or rhythm, despite his insistence in his forward about how he had every intention of keeping the authentic feel of the work. That book turned me off of ever looking at any other of his translations. Sad. But, he's great, right? (For a good, clear and forceful Beowulf, try Tolkien's.)
"The Troubles" as you put it was not a "conflict". It was a murderous terrorist campaign by an evil criminal organization; one your political establishment , inexplicably, sided with against their supposedly great ally forcing that ally's scandalous and gutless surrender, just as we were eradicating that cancer from Ulster.
Wonderful reminder of a time and place in history. Thanks, Seamus.
Virgil's descent into Hell would be mirrored in Dante Aligheri's "Inferno", where Virgil is employed by Dante as his guide.