Eavan Boland

New Collected Poems

An expansive, celebratory collection from “one of the finest and boldest poets of the last half century” (Poetry Review).

An Origin Like Water: Poems 1967–1987 confirmed Eavan Boland’s place at the forefront of modern Irish poetry. New Collected Poems now brings the record of her achievement up to date, adding material from her subsequent volumes and filling out key poems from the early years. Following the chronology of publication, the reader experiences the exhilarating sense of development, now incremental, now momentous. Boland’s work traces a measured process of emancipation from conventions and stereotypes, writing now in a space she has cleared not by violent rejection, but by dialogue, critical engagement, and patient experimentation with form, theme, and language.

from “The Pomegranate”

I walked out in a summer twilight
searching for my daughter at bed-time.
When she came running I was ready
to make any bargain to keep her ...
But I was Ceres then and I knew
winter was in store for every leaf
on every tree on that road.

Eavan Boland is a professor and directs the Creative Writing Program at Stanford University. Her collection Against Love Poetry was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and her awards include a Lannan Foundation Award.