Pastoral Elegy in Contemporary British and Irish Poetry

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Description

Defying critical suggestions that the pastoral elegy is obsolete, Iain Twiddy reveals the popularity of the form in the work of major contemporary poets Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes and Paul Muldoon, Michael Longley, Douglas Dunn and Peter Reading.

As Twiddy outlines the development of the form, he identifies its characteristics and functions. But more importantly his study accounts for the enduring appeal of the pastoral elegy, why poets look to its conventions during times of personal distress and social disharmony, and how it allows them to recover from grief, loss and destruction.

Informed by current debates and contemporary theories of mourning, Twiddy discusses themes of war and peace, social pastoral and environmental change, draws on the enduring influence of both Classical and Romantic poetics and explores poets' changing relationships with pastoral elegy throughout their careers. The result is a study that demonstrates why the pastoral elegy is still a flourishing and dynamic form in contemporary British and Irish poetry.

Reviews

[I]ndividual sections offer solid close readings and interesting insights not only into the works of the respective poets but into the variability of pastoral and the elegy. * Symbolism: An International Annual of Critical Aesthetics *
'Iain Twiddy is a wonderfully acute reader with a deep understanding ot the historical and psycholological roots of pastoral elegy. The result is a compelling account of the adaptability and continuing vitality of the genre.' -- Neil Roberts, Emeritus Professor of English Literature, University of Sheffield, UK
'Iain Twiddy's inspiring account of contemporary poetry pays tribute to the resilience and persistence of one of the oldest forms of writing - the pastoral elegy. In this highly informative and comprehensive study, he ranges from the classical origins of pastoral elegy to its modern manifestations in the writings of Michael Longley, Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon, and others. He shows with impressive conviction how contemporary poets have continued to draw on the energies and resources of pastoral elegy in confronting loss and adjusting to social and political change. The versions of pastoral we encounter in this compelling book are poems that are dynamically involved in the traditional elegiac processes of memory and consolation, but also fully alert to the challenges of their own time, including the devastation of war and the impact of environmental change. The book finds hope and uplift in the revitalised forms of pastoral elegy in contemporary British and Irish poetry. In its meticulously detailed attention to language and form, it shows (in the words of Wallace Stevens) how each poem is "the cry of its occasion".' -- Stephen Regan, Professor of English, Durham University, UK

Author Bio

Iain Twiddy is Associate Professor of English in the Faculty of Media and Communication at Hokkaido University, Japan.