'A skilled and celebrated poet.'
Ken Gladdish, Poetry Quarterly Review, Autumn 1999.

'Eavan Boland's critical status has burgeoned in the last ten years to the point where she is now one of the major figures in contemporary Irish and women's poetry.'
The North magazine.

'This subtle, unadorned book is typical of Boland's powerfully persuasive manner as a poet.'
Michael Glover, The Independent on Sunday, October 1998.

'The internationally acclaimed Irish poet powerfully and movingly continues to merge private and mythic history.'
W.W. Norton books.

'She's a poet of both painterly and worldly engagements, equally attentive to the dance of the intellect and the testimony of the senses.'
The Boston Review.

'Thoughtful, spare and elgant verse from one of Ireland's most significant poets.'
Margaret Greenwood, The Rough Guide to Ireland.

'A modern romantic with impressive intellectual resources, Boland fulfils her desire to "bless the ordinary...sanctify the common." Her poems have a rare artistic resonance.'
Alan Bold, The Scotsman, 1987.

'She has the equipment of the true poet, that is to say an image-making faculty, a true devoted eye and an ear for rhythm.'
Iain Crichton Smith, Chapman magazine, 1989.

'Boland's gift is that she is always accessible, never elitist, but intelligent, striving and inclusive.'
Sue Hubbard, New Statesman and Society, 1996.

'The wealth of Eavan Boland's language is complemented by a visual wealth in metaphors.'
Anthony Libby, the New York Times, 1987.

'More than twenty years ago her voice was sweet and low and musical...now it has deepened in resonance and authority.'
Brian Kennelly, The Irish Times, 1986.