Paul Muldoon as a Political Poet: A Critical Reading of His volume Horse Latitudes

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assistant Professor in English Literature. Mansoura University

Abstract

This paper focuses on particular political issues, such as the political stasis on the international arena and Muldoon's attempt to stir that stasis or stagnation via his original use of language, the American military violence against Iraq and violence against horses which in Muldoon's view symbolize Irish people.  The paper also deals with  the issue of expatriation and Muldoon's dual position of being originally an Irish man living as an American citizen in the States.  The paper further handles the civil riots in Ireland in the 1970's and Muldoon's reaction to them.
The method followed throughout the study depends on contextualizing the battles handled or just mentioned in the poems in their historical background, relating them to the current events, examining the language and the techniques used, and probing any possible relationship between poetic forms and political subject-matters.