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In lieu of the shamrock, leprechaun, corned beef and cabbage hodgepodge that hit Church Street on March 17, why not honor Burlington’s unseasonably warm weather, and the month of St. Patty’s, with iced tea and an investigation of Irish poets?

Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland and Paul Muldoon are three contemporary representatives of Irish writers who explore their dynamic visions of the world through poetry.  

A native of Northern Ireland, Heaney gained his popularity in the late 1960s with the advent of his first book, “Death of a Naturalist.” 

Considered a member of the Northern School of Irish writing, Heaney explores historical themes in the development of Ireland. The juxtaposition of the Ireland of the past with the industrial-driven contemporary Ireland is at the center of many of his works.  

“Digging,” which appeared in “Death of a Naturalist,” portrays Heaney’s comparison of different types of digging: that of his ancestors’-the spade that brings the “cold smell of potato mold, the squelch and slap/Of soggy peat” – and that of the pen which his speaker uses to “dig.” 

Born in Dublin, Boland currently teaches at Stanford University. Her poetry is often associated with feminist themes.  

Read “Pomegranate,” in which Boland illustrates her ability to slip into the Roman myth from any age. 

In the poem, the speaker merges what one can assume to be Boland’s experiences as a child relocated from Dublin to London, to the speaker’s reflections on being “a child in exile in/a city of fogs and strange consonants.” 

The speaker later considers her experiences as a mother, emphasizing her first-person assertion that “the best thing about the legend is/I can enter it anywhere.”

Muldoon grew up in Northern Ireland and teaches at Princeton University. Compare “Gathering Mushrooms” to Heaney’s “Digging” for a different instance of a poem that focuses on its subject’s relationship to his ancestry.  

In “Gathering Mushrooms,” Muldoon’s speaker describes an unidentified third person’s reaction to the gravesite of his mother and father. 

Notice also the poet’s naming of American states. This incorporation intensifies our understanding of the poet’s relationship to his native Ireland and current residency in the United States.  

While all three poets focus on different sides of Ireland, Heaney, Boland and Muldoon excavate their relationship to Ireland and explore their identity as Irish writers in vibrant and innovative ways.