I completely agree that Derek Mahon explores people and places in his own distinctive style. His poetry has given me an insight into the minds of people completely alien to me and created vivid pictures of places that I have yet to visit. His incredible powers of description and his obvious empathy with others have made studying his poetry very enjoyable.

In ‘After the Titanic’, Mahon gives a voice to Bruce Ismay, manager of the White Star Line, who was on board the Titanic when it sank. He was one of the very few men who survived and was strongly criticised for saving himself when the ship sank. Having read quite a lot about the Titanic, I always viewed Ismay in a very negative light. However, Mahon offers an alternative view of the man that is extremely thought provoking.

The poem begins with Ismay’s vivid recollections of the tragic night: “As I sat shivering on the dark water
I turned to ice to hear my costly
Life go thundering down in a pandemonium of
Prams, pianos, sideboards, winches,
Boilers bursting and shredded ragtime . . .”

Mahon captures that fateful night by appealing to our senses; we can see the objects descending into the “dark water”, feel the “shivering” cold and hear the “shredded ragtime”.

Mahon highlights how even though Ismay survived the disaster, that same night he watched his “Life go thundering down” along with the wreckage. He uses the image of drowning to emphasise the dramatic effects of the Titanic on Ismay’s life: “I sank as far as any/Hero”. Ismay’s present is very bleak; he is forced to “hide” in a “lonely house” where everything reminds him of that terrible night. The “dim/Lost faces” haunt him and life now means “nothing” to him. We get a sense of his deep remorse when his “poor soul/Screams out in the starlight. Mahon challenges our perception of Ismay as a complete villain. It is a testament to the poet’s writing that by the end of the poem we are willing to “include” him in our “lamentations”.

The portrayal of Oates in ‘Antarctica’ provides a dramatic contrast with Ismay’s portrayal in ‘After the Titanic’. However, Mahon continues to vividly capture both people and place in this poem. Oates was a member of Robert Scott’s expedition to reach the South Pole. On their return journey, Oates’s frostbitten feet became gangrenous and he begged the others to leave him. When they refused, he took an altruistic decision to leave the others himself and walk to a certain death. The first line of the poem is reportedly, what he said to the others as he left.

Whilst Mahon used the first person in ‘After the Titanic’, ‘Antarctica’ is written from the perspective of an omniscient speaker. The poet uses the form of a villanelle, a style often linked with reflections on death. The harsh setting of the Antarctic is conveyed through Mahon’s clever use of language. Once again, our senses are engaged to create a vivid sense of place. As Oates walks away the “tent recedes beneath its crust of rime”. We hear the “howling snow” as Oates’s “frostbite is replaced by vertigo”.

The repetition of Oates’s final words, “I am just going outside and may be some time”, highlights his courage and dignity. This was a casual understatement for sacrificing his life! Mahon portrays the huge physical and mental effort of Oates when he describes him as “Goading his ghost into the howling snow”. The poet addresses the audience directly when he considers Oates’s huge self-sacrifice:

“Need we consider it some sort of crime?
This numb self-sacrifice of the weakest? No”

Mahon does not see this as suicide but rather as an expression of the “sublime” qualities of good men.

In his poetry, Mahon allows us to see extremes of good and bad in mankind through his brilliant depictions of many characters. Mahon introduces us to the mindset of a fanatic in his chilling and eerie poem ‘As it Should Be’. He uses the voice of a cold-hearted man who has recently killed someone but feels absolutely no remorse for it. His obsession with what he feels is justice leads him to depersonalise his victim and brand him “a mad bastard”. He explains how they “gunned him down in a blind yard” in a self-congratulatory manner. He feels the murder “is as it should be” because “The air blows softer since his departure”. I think this is an exceptional poem because it provides us with an insight into the mind of someone that is completely alien. It is alarmingly realistic and is a harrowing insight into the mind of such a person.

Mahon continues to explore fanaticism in the poem ‘Ecclesiastes’. The poet’s own Protestant upbringing provided much of the content of this poem. He focuses on the “God-fearing, God-chosen purist little puritan”, a preacher who enjoys the suppressive side of religion, particularly the suppression of enjoyment and pleasure. This type of fanatic is a dictator who shelters his “cold heart from the heat/of the world, from woman-inquisition, from the/bright eyes of the children.” The imagery here is harsh; it is an attack on a harsh man with a harsh outlook. Mahon conveys a man who distrusts the warmth and brightness of humanity. He considers himself a holy man yet he overlooks the most positive aspect of Christianity, as he does not “feel called upon to understand and forgive”. This is a man who prefers a God of retribution to a God of love. It is also clear that this man represents a dying, patriarchal tradition - “the heaped/graves of your fathers”.

In this poem, Mahon also describes a place very personal to him. He was brought up in Belfast and was part of the Protestant community. The bleak imagery suggests a bleak world, a world of “dank churches, the empty streets, /the shipyard silence, the tied-up swings”. This is a world where religion caused all work to stop and all playgrounds to be closed on a Sunday. The words “dank”, “empty”, “dark” and “bleak” express a negative world where people are “stiff with rhetoric”. I believe Mahon was very courageous to describe his own home and tradition with such unwavering honesty.

There is a great contrast in Mahon’s portrayal of place in the final poem I am going to discuss, ‘Kinsale’. This short poem is highly suggestive. Kinsale was the site of a battle in 1601 that defeated Gaelic rule. It also heralded the beginning of the plantations in Ulster. The poem uses contrast to portray the difference between Ireland past and present. Mahon tells us that the “rain we knew is a thing of the past”. Kinsale is now “steaming in the sun” with yachts “dancing in the bay”. The personification here creates an upbeat atmosphere where a future is “forbidden to no one”. This is very far from the dreary surroundings of ‘Ecclesiastes’. The comparison of “yachts” to “racehorses” could hint at the newfound prosperity of Ireland. Both objects are symbols of wealth and glamour. The poem ends on an optimistic note where “We contemplate at last/ shining windows”. The rain reflects the pain of the past whilst the sun heralds a new positive future.

Mahon’s ability to empathise with people and bring their experiences to his poetry is unrivalled. His poetry has enabled me to see the world through the eyes of other people. He has also given me a fresh insight into both familiar and unfamiliar places. His fresh imagery, multi-sensory approach, clever sound effects, adoption of personas and accessible language all contributed to making his poetry more enjoyable.

	Created by Caroline Allen over 10 years ago

English (Studied Poetry) Note on Derek Mahon 2008, created by Caroline Allen on 09/08/2013.

Derek Mahon 2008