Dublin's Other Poetry: Rhymes and Songs of the City - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1843511614 ISBN 13: 9781843511618

Publisher: The Lilliput Press, 2009

Synopsis

Dublin's writers rarely remain solemn for long: their wicked sense of humour has travelled the world. This is an irresistible new anthology of what used to be called 'comic and curious verse' about the city, written by some of her most entertaining poets and songwriters.
Fashions in verse come and go. Too often we forget - paradoxically - the most memorable works of wit, sarcasm or absurdity. The ones gathered here were written over four centuries, and were inspired by many things - among them love, injustice, history, politics, animals and alcohol, but most of all by the citizens of Dublin themselves. Whether the lines are satirical, sentimental, subversive, sexy or just plain silly, you will find that many of them show a rare seriousness as well.
Each poem comes with background information about where it originated, and each page is illuminated by Hector McDonnell's wonderful, witty drawings.

About this title

About the Author:

John Wyse Jackson and Hector McDonnell have also worked together on Ireland's Other Poetry: Anonymous to Zozimus and Ulster's Other Poetry: Verses and Songs of the Province, both published by The Lilliput Press.

From Booklist:

Americans aren’t usually looking for what were once called “party pieces” to recite at the drop of a hat in pub or parish hall, but if they read these collections of funny recitable verse, they might be inspired to revive an old tradition. The heavily metric and entertainingly rhymed poems absolutely beg to be given voice. Some of the work contained in these collections from the Irish republic’s capital and the province subsumed by Northern Ireland will be familiar to Irish-American readers, for poems such as Percy French’s “Mountains of Mourne” and the anonymous “Spanish Lady” have been successfully set to music. Most others are occasional pieces, some by famous authors (George Bernard Shaw, Oliver St. John Gogarty), more by obscure or unknown ones, satirizing politics, religion, sexual mores, and culture. But it isn’t the content that makes these pieces so enjoyable. It’s the old-fashioned songlike meters and frequently amusing rhymes (e.g., “axolotl / Popocatapetl”) that please the ear. Especially recommended for libraries with strong Irish collections. --Patricia Monaghan

About this edition

• Publisher: The Lilliput Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1843511614
• ISBN 13: 9781843511618
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 145
• Editor: Jackson John Wyse, Mcdonnell Hector