Writing to the moment: Selected critical essays, 1980-1996

Description

A collection of essays, reviews and introductions - many with a marked political slant - plus some overtly political writings, by a poet and critic who is also a champion of British and Irish dissent. Northern Ireland looms large, but Paulin's main concern is with artistic excellence. Introduction The Making of a Loyalist The British Presence in Ulysses Paisley’s Progress The Earnest Puppet: Edward Carson A New Look at the Language Question The Man from No Part: Louis MacNeice In the Salt Mines: Louis’ Pick A Terminal Ironist: Derek Mahon The Fuse and the Fire: Northern Protestant Oratory and Writing The Crack Sublime and Ridiklus Political Verse Shakespeare the Catholic T. S. Eliot and Anti-Semitism Strinkling Droppies: John Clare The Tender Voice: Thomas Hardy The Phallic Thumb of Love: Whitman and Hopkins Lawrence and Decency Formal Pleasure: The Short Story Writing to the Moment: Elizabeth Bishop The Dean’s Bellyful: Jonathan Swift Billy’s Victim: John Dryden Vernacular Verse Living Ginger: Jack B. Yeats American Primitives The Critic at the Breakfast Table The Disinterested Critic Theory Scholarship Doubt Body Language Solid Sentimentality Polemic Timing Praise Going to Law or The Weight of a Man’s Balls Lingo Jingo Who Comes First? Ambiguity Getting It Wrong Camp Deep Culture