“Mise Eire” Bringing Women into the World of Poetry Eavan Boland is known for her poetry being controversial. The subjects of her poems, most notably “Anorexia” and “In His Own Image,” were not wildly discussed at the time of their publication, and Boland believed that this wasn’t right. Most of her poems were brash in their own ways, with no hidden meanings behind her words, and are meant for discussion. “Mise Eire” also has an important role to play in these discussions; in it, Boland is pulling women out of the mythical land that they’ve been placed in for generations and put back into reality. Women are underrepresented in Irish poetry, and the ones that do make an appearance become mythical creatures, such as maidens with extreme …show more content…
Poems and songs about the Fenian rising of 1867 are still popular today, and it is doubtful that poems written about the 1916 rising will diminish any time soon. “Bold Fenian Men” is a song written about the braveness of those who went to fight in the Fenian rising, and while it is told from a female perspective, she places all of her focus on the braveness of men. In the poem “Wishes for my son,” a father wishes a better life for his son than the one he had, hoping that his fight for freedom takes hold, and that his son will not have to fight, but have a peaceful life. The sentiment is true and pure, but devoid of any thoughts for any female presences. Women in this poem are found undeserving of any mention, and once again, are absent from prominent poems. These poems gain nothing in removing female presences, nor would they lose meaning should they mention them in more than the role of elevating men. Boland simply wishes to do this, to make women in poetry be their own person, to have lives as complicated as their male counterparts without using domination over men. This is why the women in “Mise Eire” simply