¶ … Irish poetry is unavoidably shaped by its historical, social, and political context. The Troubles have infiltrated poets throughout several generations, permitting unique artistic insight into the conflict. Younger poets writing about The Troubles in Northern Ireland understandably have a different point-of-view than poets from a previous generation. Their personal experiences were different, and the historical events they witnessed or were surrounded by in the media likewise differed from their predecessors. Yet there are also shared themes that provide the inextricable cultural links between all poets of Northern Ireland. Some poets, like Seamus Heaney, rely heavily on literalism and a direct political commentary in addition to poetic tropes like symbols of colonization. Likewise, Derek Mahon does not hold back in terms of diction related to The Troubles. When examining poets from an earlier generation, who wrote during some of the most violent occasions of The Troubles, allusions and metaphors seem to be buffers between the poet and the visceral realities of war; whereas younger poets often seem as if they are in a position to comment more directly on tangible or literal matters. Poetry from the younger generation differs from the older in terms of personal identities and politics, but all the poets of Northern Ireland capture the paradoxes of sectarian violence. Issues of identity are central to the poets of Northern Ireland, as personal alliances and allegiances define how one perceives, and how one is perceived by others. Core schisms in identity formation and maintenance in Northern Ireland go far beyond the simplistic Catholic/Protestant designations and stem back to specific events. Poetry capitalizes on the verbal value of specific events, like the displacement of Gaels for the Scottish planters. With regard to personal identity, there is often a conflict between whether the poet is writing for self and personal reflection, or for their broader community as a representative. This is especially apparent with poets of the younger generation Thus, poetry has a political dimension and the poet possesses responsibility for representing the voice of the people. Montague says, often the poet serves "as the conscience of his race" and "part of the poet's job" is "to warn and try to heal," (Kearney, Hewitt, and Montague p. 88). Hewitt, on the other hand, warns of the problems of writing as a spokesperson for others because poets can too easily become "victims of people's expectations of what they should be talking about" (Kearney, Hewitt, and Montague 88). Yet for the poets of Northern Ireland, being Ulster or Gael has a direct, strong, and unavoidable bearing on word choice, diction, and tone.

Stalwart poets like MacNeice, Hewitt, Mahon, and Heaney often rely on a combination of metaphorical imagery and literalism to convey central concepts of the Troubles. Like many Northern Irish poets, Louis Macniece straddled multiple worlds, studying and spending much of his life in London. His being geographically distanced from Ireland had no real bearing on the content of his work. For example, the autobiographical "Carrickfergus" details a life in which the son of an Anglican rector born in Belfast later moves with his family to "Smoky Carrick in County Antrim," which would later become a hotbed for The Troubles. Yet MacNiece's generation knew of wars that extended beyond the borders of Ireland: World Wars I and II weave their way into MacNiece's work in ways that anchor the Troubles as part of a broader Irish history. The younger generation lacks the perspective of historical context, frequently focusing on the present and possible futures instead. MacNiece, like other older generation poets, extend their reach deep into the past, including references to the Norman invasion and even to ancient Rome.

Seamus Heaney employs metaphors related to colonization, which is a trope that many other Northern Irish poets use when describing the uneasy relationship between the Crown and its captives. The second stanza in "Act of Union" is quite overt in this respect: "And I am still imperially / Male, leaving you with pain, / The rending process in the colony." Heaney also uses the metaphor of patriarchy, a universal symbol of social, political, and economic oppression. To be "imperially male" is almost a redundancy in this respect. Phallic imagery including "The act sprouted an obstinate fifth column" enhances the theme of patriarchy as a metaphor for Britain's role in the conflict. Britain is also likened to a brutal, bellicose "battering ram," which causes a "boom burst from within," referring to the Troubles," (Heaney, "Act of Union," Stanza II). The stubborn...

Bitterness remains a core tone of Heaney's political poems, too. Phrases like, "conceding your half-independent shore," for example, describe the rendering of Ireland with potent imagery of division leaving "inexorably" painful wounds (Heaney, "Act of Union").
A strong sense of place and geographic anchoring provide other important literary devices for the older-to-middle generation Northern Irish poets. In Heaney's "Act of Union," imagery related to bogs provides a metaphoric as well as literal landscape. To be bogged down in a conflict parallels the nature of the contentious land. "As if the rain in bogland gathered head / To slip and flood: a bog-burst, / A gash breaking open the ferny bed," ("Act of Union," Stanza I). A separate poem entitled, "Bogland" allows Heaney to explore the metaphor of the bog in greater depth. Here, Heaney uses the image of the "skeleton / Of the Great Irish Elk" and the "kind, black butter" of the boggy mud which has no bottom. One of the most outstanding features of Seamus Heaney's work is the ability to link politics with place, without delving too deeply into the politics of self and personal identity. Rarely does Heaney refer to his background in ways as obvious as other poets of his generation.

Likewise, Derek Mahon writes without self-conscious explorations of his Protestant Ulster identity. Mahon is among the more optimistic of the Northern Irish poets, in spite of having written much during the heat of the Troubles. "The sun rises in spite of everything / and the far cities are beautiful and bright…Everything is going to be alright." Likewise, "A Disused Shed in County Wexford" imparts a positive outlook in spite of references to war. Mahon calls for political action in a direct way, referring to the ways "they are begging us…in their wordless way, / to do something, to speak on their behalf / or at least not to close the door again," ("A Disused Shed in County Wexford"). Through the grim realities of death emerges new light and life, for "even now there are places where a thought might grow," ("A Disused Shed in County Wexford"). The desolation, ironically reminiscent of "Ozymandias," pays homage to the eternal beauty of Ireland that cannot be destroyed in spite of war. Like several other poets of his generation, Mahon includes imagery of nature, geography, and place. Dampness and moisture, mushrooms and bog, all appear throughout the poems related to Northern Ireland. Mushrooms in particular seem to be a motif that transcends generation, as both Heaney and Muldoon refer to fungi.

Michael Longley and Medbh McGuckian both incorporate imagery of flowers as symbols of hope and rebirth. One of McGuckian's anthologies is entitled The Flower Master. In 1960, Michael Longley published a poem called "Marigolds," with strong imagery of death. The narrator repeats the line, "You are dying" as they drive to Belfast, "to your death." Longley's obsession with death repeats itself in "The Stairwell," in which he contemplates his funeral music.

John Hewitt has been hailed as a "tolerant but heroically isolated figure working courageously at the margins of a savagely divided society," (Walsh 341). Yet oddly, more than most Northern Irish poets, Hewitt imbues his poetry with references to his Ulster upbringing and personal identity and describes the importance of ancestry and family ties (Walsh). Especially in "Ulster Names," Hewitt "takes a stand" with those of his community.

A few of his poems assert the Ulster perspective in the Troubles, coming close to bitterly challenging notions of victim and oppressor. For instance, in "The Colony" Hewitt writes, "this is our country also, nowhere else; / and we shall not be outcast on the world." In spite of the potentially contentious assertion of Ulster identity, Hewitt's "Planter and the Gael" project was designed to engage Nationalist and Unionist poets, in an attempt to use poetry to forge political alliances and mitigate suffering. For Hewitt, poetry has a definite political importance and poets a responsibility to tell the story of their people, defending the right to "not be outcast on the world." As Walsh puts it, Hewitt was "caught between two worlds" (Walsh 343). Like all poets from his generation including Longley, McGuckian, Mahon and Heaney, Hewitt remains firmly anchored in place. Geography and landscape provide potent imagery and metaphors for a veiled discussion of The Troubles, as when Hewitt refers to the multitude of Ulster place names and their attendant mosses and hills. Occasionally, nature provides some of…