Wormley

Workbook B - Selections of Poems of G.F.E. McGuiness

The poems of G.F.E. McGuiness can be read in many ways. However, there are strongly recurring themes. Irish nationalism is an obvious theme. Suffering the loss of a young bride-to-be with equal degrees of anger and rage is also obvious. More subtle is the handling of dualism. Duality : in man's nature - to be heroic or to be cowardly, in government - to serve or to oppress in nature - to nurture or to wantonly destroy. in spirituality - to ascend or slither McGuiness connects dualities with lines, as if constructing a connect- the-dots picture. New realities, not at all obvious in simple readings, are so constructed. He also takes on the mantle of the Irish story teller, whose obligation it is to retell the stories of others. From these second-person works, and notes on manuscripts, we can trace his travels. The shells, for example are those seen on the Pacific shores of California. Soldier works derive from stories told by his American friends who hid him away. Were these latter works 'songs for supper' ? Perhaps. Look at the art of renaissance Italy. All - so to speak - songs for supper. But the hosts are long forgotten, and only the songs remain. As to the story retelling, it is far richer than a mere verbatim recital. One doubts that the imagery presented by the poet ever existed in the originals. McGuiness puts this observation into the words spoken to him by a ghost (Cousins). in duty - to self or to others in love - lust vs. commitment