Bodies of Water in the Poetry of Eavan Boland (IRE) and Rhian Gallagher (NZ)

Abstract

In the poetry of Eavan Boland and second-generation Irish poet Rhian Gallagher, bodies of water are summoned to enact the ritual or vocation towards embodiment in the lyric. In this article, I argue that a Catholic upbringing influences how a poet treats the subject in lyric poetry, particularly bodies of women. Boland travels towards the body of her dying mother in “And Soul”, permeating every drop of water she encounters with the possibility of enlivening her mother. In “Gaze”, Gallagher searches for “something” missing in the view outside her window, something she finds in the gaze and body of her lesbian lover. Both poems are set in liminal spaces, allowing for the ritual of lyric embodiment with subjects seeking immortality through bodies of water.

Keywords

• irish
• diaspora
• poetry
• catholic
• lesbian