EPIC by Patrick Kavanagh

Here's the full text of the poem, copied from this marvellous site, created with Microsoft Word 97:

Epic

- Patrick Kavanagh

I have lived in important places, times
When great events were decided : who owned
That half a rood of rock, a no-man's land
Surrounded by our pitchfork-armed claims.

I heard the Duffys shouting "Damn your soul"
And old McCabe stripped to the waist, seen
Step the plot defying blue cast-steel -
"Here is the march along these iron stones."

That was the year of the Munich bother. Which
Was most important ? I inclined
To lose my faith in Ballyrush and Gortin
Till Homer's ghost came whispering to my mind.
He said : I made the Iliad from such
A local row. Gods make their own importance.

Here's an audio of Patrick Kavanagh reading the poem:

Filed Under:

1. Poetry
2. Patrick Kavanagh
3. Epic