'A terrible beauty is born'
WB Yeats's poignant words have come to immortalise the complex legacy of the Easter Rising, 1916. The poetry that emerged at this time of upheaval in Ireland gave voice to the thoughts of a generation. Yeats's poem, 'Easter 1916', sits alongside selected works of other major poets of the era. These include Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh and Joseph Plunkett, who were executed for their part in the Rising.
In the aftermath of the Rising an outpouring of poetry also expressed the shock and grief of literary figures such as Padraic Colum, Francis Ledwidge, Eva Gore-Booth, James Stephens, Dora Sigerson Shorter and Sean O'Casey. Rebels, soldiers, honorary Irishmen, sympathisers and exiles all held up a mirror, in verse, to the events, beliefs and desires bound up in 1916.
Illustrated by:
Emma Byrne (The O'Brien Press Ltd)
Edited by:
Mairéad Ashe FitzGerald
Imprint: O'Brien Press Ltd
Country of Publication: Ireland
Edition: 2nd New edition
Dimensions:
Height: 196mm,
Width: 129mm,
Spine: 13mm
Weight: 255g
ISBN: 9781788496407
ISBN 10: 178849640X
Pages: 160
Publication Date: 23 March 2026
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified
A COUNTRY’S AWAKENING 11 THE CONFLUENCE OF DREAMS Pádraic Pearse (1879–1916) 17 The Rebel 21 Fornocht Do Chonac Thú 24 Renunciation (Translation of Fornocht Do Chonac Thú) 26 The Fool 28 Mise Éire 30 I Am Ireland (Translation of Mise Éire) 31 The Mother 32 The Wayfarer 33 Thomas MacDonagh (1878–1916) 35 Wishes for My Son 39 Of a Poet Patriot 42 An Bonnán Buí 43 The Yellow Bittern (Translation of An Bonnán Buí by Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Gunna) 45 The Poet Captain 47 Joseph Mary Plunkett (1887–1916) 51 I See His Blood upon the Rose 55 The Little Black Rose Shall be Red at Last 56 The Stars Sang in God’s Garden 57 This Heritage to the Race of Kings 58 The Dark Way 59 To Grace 61 WHEN THE DAWN IS COME George William Russell (Æ) (1867–1935) 65 A Leader 68 On Behalf of Some Irishmen Not Followers of Tradition 69 Salutation 71 Continuity 73 Francis Ledwidge (1887–1917) 75 Thomas MacDonagh 79 Ireland 80 To Mrs Joseph Plunkett 81 The Dead Kings 82 O’Connell Street 84 A Soldier’s Grave 85 William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) 87 Easter 1916 91 Sixteen Dead Men 95 The Rose Tree 96 In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz 97 AFTERMATH & REQUIEM Eva Gore-Booth (1870–1926) 101 Heroic Death, 1916 103 Easter Week 104 Comrades 104 Francis Sheehy-Skeffington 105 Roger Casement 106 Dermot O’Byrne (Sir Arnold Bax) (1883–1953) 109 A Dublin Ballad—1916 111 Martial Law in Dublin 114 Shells at Oranmore 115 James Stephens (1880–1950) 117 Spring—1916 119 Seán O’Casey (1880–1964) 125 Thomas Ashe 127 Thomas Ashe (1885–1917) 129 Let Me Carry Your Cross for Ireland, Lord! 132 Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918) 135 Easter Week 137 Joseph Campbell (1879–1944) 139 Fires 142 The Storm-Thrush on the Shaking Tree 143 Dora Sigerson Shorter (1866–1918) 145 The Star 147 The Dead Soldier 148 Padraic Colum (1881–1972) 151 The Rebel. Roger Casement, 1864–1916 153 Canon Charles O’Neill (1887–1963) 154 The Foggy Dew 155 Index of first lines 158
Mairéad Ashe FitzGerald grew up in County Clare. She was a graduate of NUI Galway and University College Dublin where she studied Archaeology. Mairéad taught Irish and History before working in publishing for many years. Being invited by OBP to write books allowed her to indulge her passion for research into Ireland's history, archaeology and literature. Mairead died in March 2022.
Reviews for A Terrible Beauty: Poetry of 1916
beautifully presented -- Lucan, CLondalkin, Tallaght and Ballyfermot Echos from the moment you pick up this book, you know it’s a sacred object -- Tintean there is no shortage of books with information and background on the events and personalities involved in the Rising of 1916. As Ireland prepares to celebrate the centenary, there will be no doubt be more books, some praising those involved, some with a more critical view of the event. But for an emotional response, for something that may persuade us what happened was the outcome of good intentions and high nobility, we need to turn to the poets and how they perceived it … a beautifully produced little book that makes the point more powerfully than a dozen treatises -- Irish Echo it falls within a range of titles released this month by the publisher inspired by 1916, which include Inside the GPO 1916 – A First-Hand Account and a collection entitled The 16 Lives Series, which offers a set of biographies of the 16 men executed in Easter Rising -- irishpost.co.uk
