Monday, May 16, 2016

Poems of Joseph Mary Plunkett

The Poems of Joseph Mary Plunkett by Joseph Mary Plunkett, 95 pages

Joseph Plunkett was a poet, a journalist, and an officer in the Irish Republican Brotherhood.  One of the ringleaders of the Easter Rising, he cemented his romantic legend by participating in the revolt despite a severe illness that left him almost entirely incapacitated.  Captured and convicted of treason, he married his fiancee in prison the day before his execution.  He was 28.

The Poems of Joseph Mary Plunkett is a collection of his published and unpublished poetry, with a biographical introduction by his sister and a closing essay by Plunkett himself on the subject of "Obscurity and Poetry".  This last is the best contribution to the book.  The poems are sadly undistinguished despite drawing upon a wealth of religious and mythological imagery, and often awkward in form.

No comments:

Post a Comment