second listening The second time you listen, make a note of the following:
1. If his voice goes up at any point, draw an arrow pointing upward A 2. If his voice drops, draw an arrow pointing downward G 3. Now compare your answers to your classmates’ answers to see if you agree. Discuss how listening to a reading changes your understanding of a poem.
A Poem for Ireland
In September 2014, RTÉ launched a campaign to find Ireland’s favourite poem from the last 100 years. More than 130 poems were nominated for ‘A Poem for Ireland’. This was then whittled down to ten poems listed below.
The winner of that campaign is the next poem you will read. You can also listen to the poet recite the poem himself too.
A Poem for Ireland 1. ‘A Christmas Childhood’ by Patrick Kavanagh 2. ‘A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford’ by Derek Mahon 3. ‘Dublin’ by Louis MacNeice 4. ‘Easter 1916’ by W. B. Yeats 5. ‘Fill Arís’ by Séan Ó Riordáin 6. ‘Filleadh ar an gCathair’ by Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh
7. ‘Making Love Outside Áras an Uachtaráin’ by Paul Durcan
8. ‘Quarantine’ by Eavan Boland
9. ‘The Statue of the Virgin at Granard Speaks’ by Paula Meehan
D 278 FIRE AND ICE 2
10. From ‘Clearances’, 3. ‘When all the others were away at Mass’ by Seamus Heaney
WATCH
You can watch a recitation of the winning poem recorded for ‘A Poem for Ireland’.
‘We all turn to poetry when we can’t find the words ourselves to express a sentiment or feeling: at weddings, funerals, and great and small moments in life. This campaign is about celebrating the wonderful canon of Irish poetry of the past 100 years and what it says about us as a people.’
