![]() Quote of the Day
an admirable concern to keep lines open to writing in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and America.
Seamus Heaney
|
|
Book Search
Subscribe to our mailing list
|
|
Collected PoemsSorley MacLeanEdited by Christopher Whyte and Emma Dymock![]() 10% off all versions
Categories: 20th Century, Scottish
Imprint: Carcanet Poetry Publisher: Carcanet Press Available as: eBook (Kindle) 9781847778840 £22.50 £20.25 eBook (EPUB) Needs ADE! 9781847778833 £22.50 £20.25 To use the EPUB version, you will need to have Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) installed on your device. You can find out more at https://www.adobe.com/uk/solutions/ebook/digital-editions.html. Please do not purchase this version if you do not have, or are prepared to install, Adobe Digital Editions.
Sorley MacLean (Somhairle MacGill-Eain 1911–1996) is generally recognised as the most significant writer in Scottish Gaelic of the twentieth century. Yet his work possesses a relevance extending far beyond the bounds of his nation or his language. His 1943 collection Dàin do Eimhir (Poems to Eimhir) brought Gaelic poetry abreast of the modern world with breathtaking and notorious effectiveness. The love sequence at its core shows a young man battling with the conflicting claims of love and duty against the background of a continent hurtling unstoppably into all-out war. His political poem 'An Cuilithionn' ('The Cuillin') links the tragedy of the Highland Clearances with a tradition of left-wing radicalism which had the French and Bolshevik revolutions as its highpoints.
His work was characterised by a mixture of reticence and outspokenness. The love sequence could not be published in its entirety while he was alive, and An Cuilithionn waited half a century before finally appearing in an abridged and shortened form. This definitive edition brings together everything published during the poet’s life time and the love sequence in its fullest form, along with extracts from the 1939 manuscript of An Cuilithionn and a generous selection of unpublished poems. MacLean’s own English versions are complemented, where necessary, by versions from the editors. A section of notes highlights historical and traditional references, and two maps and a glossary of place-names are provided.
Praise for Sorley MacLean
'Here at last is a key to some of the most fiercely impassioned poetry of this century.'
The Times
You might also be interested in:
![]() Bevel
William Letford
![]() Selected Poetry
Hugh MacDiarmid, Edited by Alan Riach and Michael Grieve ![]() New Selected Poems
Edwin Morgan
|
Share this...
Quick Links
Carcanet Celebrates 50 Years!
Anvil Press Poetry
Aspects of Portugal
Audio Books
Carcanet Classics
Carcanet Fiction
Carcanet Film
Carcanet Poetry
FyfieldBooks
Lintott Press
Little Island Press
Lives and Letters
OxfordPoets
PN Review
Sheep Meadow Press
The Carcanet Blog
New Poetries VIII: Sinad Morrissey on Conor Cleary
read more
The Earliest Witnesses: G.C. Waldrep
read more
Conor Cleary: NPVIII: Meet the Contributor
read more
New Poetries VIII: Tara Bergin on Suzannah V. Evans
read more
Suzannah V. Evans: NPVIII: Meet the Contributor
read more
New Poetries VIII: Andrew Wynn Owen on Tristram Fane Saunders
read more
![]() |
![]() We thank the Arts Council England for their support and assistance in this interactive Project.
|
|
This website ©2000-2021 Carcanet Press Ltd
|