During an interview in 1979, Eavan Boland renounced "the evasion out of fear from some realities, and the folly of that evasion, because the realities catch up with you." Appropriately, she spoke of reality in the plural, for in her five volumes of poetry published to date she has consistently espoused direct confrontation and personal involvement with both internal and external realities. With subject matter ranging from Irish history, legend, and mythology to contemporary Dublin suburbia, spousal intimacies, and maternal responsibilities, her poems always evince a distinctive, dynamic aesthetic inextricably rooted in her self-assurance as a human being and her self-fulfillment as a woman and poet. From her earliest work, Boland has written with a Joie de vivre et langue which articulates the pride of her individuality and the confidence of her shared humanity. Her poems, even the most personal and lyrical ones, "catch up" with the reader; they...