Derek Mahon Essay
‘’Mahon’s poetry offers us thought provoking insights and displays the mastery of language and style’’
The poetry of Derek Mahon is extremely thought provoking. As an only child, he observed and thought a lot about the people and events going on around him and this is reflected in his poetry. His keen eye for detail has earned him a significant reputation and he is widely regarded as one of the most talented poets of the twentieth century. He combines conversational narrative with intelligence and wit, allowing one to become aware of some deep seriousness’s through these provoking insights. He has the rare ability to engage excellently with the world beyond himself and this is achieved by seeing people and places with an alternate viewpoint. He discusses these people and places using vivid imagery, showing us clearly his mastery of language and style. In all of his poetry, we see the creation of art out of words. He has been described as a ‘’scrupulous craftsman,’’ with every word in his poetry specially picked for a specific reason.
In the poem ‘’Grandfather,’’ Mahon paints a curious and thought provoking picture of his grandfather. These thoughts are provoked from the very first line through is mysterious use of language, ‘’they brought him in on a stretcher from the world.’’ It is unclear from this, if the ‘’stretcher’’ is physical or metaphorical. The mystery created surrounding the grandfather is just what Mahon wants. We see how the grandfather sticks to his old work regime after his retirement, ‘’every morning his is up at six with a block of wood or a box of nails.’’ This insight makes us reflect on how difficult it must be, to all of a sudden, be left idle. Work was all Mahon remembers his grandfather doing, without the grandfather’s work, all that is left is ‘’a childhood only he can recapture.’’ We are told how now at night he ‘’bolts the door and sets the clock against time.’’ Here we are left thinking of how so many people live every day, in a
The poetry of Derek Mahon is extremely thought provoking. As an only child, he observed and thought a lot about the people and events going on around him and this is reflected in his poetry. His keen eye for detail has earned him a significant reputation and he is widely regarded as one of the most talented poets of the twentieth century. He combines conversational narrative with intelligence and wit, allowing one to become aware of some deep seriousness’s through these provoking insights. He has the rare ability to engage excellently with the world beyond himself and this is achieved by seeing people and places with an alternate viewpoint. He discusses these people and places using vivid imagery, showing us clearly his mastery of language and style. In all of his poetry, we see the creation of art out of words. He has been described as a ‘’scrupulous craftsman,’’ with every word in his poetry specially picked for a specific reason.
In the poem ‘’Grandfather,’’ Mahon paints a curious and thought provoking picture of his grandfather. These thoughts are provoked from the very first line through is mysterious use of language, ‘’they brought him in on a stretcher from the world.’’ It is unclear from this, if the ‘’stretcher’’ is physical or metaphorical. The mystery created surrounding the grandfather is just what Mahon wants. We see how the grandfather sticks to his old work regime after his retirement, ‘’every morning his is up at six with a block of wood or a box of nails.’’ This insight makes us reflect on how difficult it must be, to all of a sudden, be left idle. Work was all Mahon remembers his grandfather doing, without the grandfather’s work, all that is left is ‘’a childhood only he can recapture.’’ We are told how now at night he ‘’bolts the door and sets the clock against time.’’ Here we are left thinking of how so many people live every day, in a