POETRY BOOK REVIEW

The Essential Brendan Kennelly – Selected Poems

Bloodaxe ISBN 978 1 85224 904 5 £12

Scholar and poet, Brendan Kennelly is a Dublin icon. Although for years Professor of Modern Literature at Trinity College, he was always perceived as “the people’s poet.”

An example of this is when he instinctively composed a poem about Jack Charlton and Ireland’s torment in the World Cup when the “Big Un” was manager and yet he also wrote the most tender of poems as he paraphrased a three year old child’s questioning of life which begins, And will the flowers die? And will the people die?... And who will bring the new flowers?..

Along with this terrific selection of poems comes a CD of the poet reading many of his better known poems. His voice is clear and his enunciation perfectly timed. It is the best reading of poems I have heard. Buy the book for the poems - oh yes! – but also for the great treat of hearing Brendan Kennelly’s speaking voice. Something to be kept forever.

Shaun Traynor