Other than the 1971 American edition of his first volume of Selected Poems, Brendan Kennelly has made no attempt to have his collections of poetry published outside Ireland. This kind of modesty is characteristic of both the man and his poetry; but it has also kept American and British audiences from a close acquaintance with the achievement of an author who, aside from Seamus Heaney, is the most widely read contemporary poet in Ireland today.

While he is also well in evidence as an editor, scholar, critic, and writer of songs, Kennelly has made his reputation primarily as a poet; and the reasons for his popularity may be found close to home. Like most notable Irish verse, his words are designed less to be read than to be read aloud; he has called his work "a relic of Irish oral tradition" and has said that "again and again I...