Selected Poems
John Irvine (1903-1965)
The Arden Press
Belfast
1948
This volume will mark the eleventh volume of poems I have read by Irvine. I stumbled upon this author. I was reading one of the Vision Books for young readers, Irish Saints by Robert T. Reilly, and there was an excerpt of a poem from A Treasury of Irish Saints A Book of Poems. It was really intriguing and after reading that first volume I made it a mission to try and track down everything Irvine published. At first my dyslexia had me thinking it was John Irving, and I have read a few of his fiction books. But some quick searching put that idea to rest. This author John Irvine lived from 1903-1965. This volume was originally published in 1948.
About the author on a site with information about Irish authors states:
“John Irvine was born in Belfast and published several collections of poems: A Voice in the Dark, 1932; Willow Leaves: Lyrics in the Manner of the Early Chinese Poets,1941; Lost Sanctuary and other poems among others. He edited The Flowering Branch: An Anthology of Irish Poetry Past and Present.”
Another online description of the author states:
“Irvine, born in Belfast, published about six collections of lyrics between 1932 and 1954, mostly from small presses in Belfast and Dublin. He also edited an anthology of Irish poetry, The Flowering Branch.”
This volume is different than the other ten I have read. It is a collection of poems all drawn from other volumes. The other volumes, year of print and number of poems from them are:
A Voice in the Dusk, 1932 – 11 Poems
Winds From the South, 1936 – 15 Poems
Willow Leaves, 1942 – 15 Poems
Nocture, 1943 – 14 Poems
From Fountain of Hellas, 1944 – 13 Poems
With No Changed Voice, 1956 – 25 Poems
Voces Intimae – 12 Poems
The volume Voces Intimae does not have a date so I wonder if it was forthcoming at the time of publication of this volume. There is a large acknowledgments at the beginning of the volume:
“I wish to tender my sincere thanks to the editors of the following publications for permissiqn to reprint poems which first appeared in their pages : "The Best Poems of 1938", "The Best Poems of 1942", "Northern Harvest", "The Cornhill", "Country Life", "The Argosy", " Chambers's Journal", " Hellas ", " The Dublin Magazine", "The Irish Times", "The Irish Independent", "The Irish Weekly Independent", "Lagan", "The Northman", "T he New York HeraldTribune" and the American poetry magazines "Wings" and "The Lyric".
I am also indebted to the following publishers : The Quota Press, Belfast; Wm. Mullan & Sons, Belfast; The Orwell Press, Dublin; The Talhot Press, Dublin; The Runa Press, Dublin; The Three Candles Press, Dublin; Mr. G. Morrow, and to Messrs. Boosey & Co. Ltd., for permission to reprint "·Spring" and "In the Faery Hills'' which first appeared in the song cycle "A Voice in the Dusk", the musical setting by C. Armstrong Gibbs. The poem "Highways and Byways" appears in this collection by the courtesy of The Ulster Tourist Association.”
But there is no mention or explanation for Voces Intimae. Each section has the original Title Page and Dedication before the selected poems. As such the sections and poems in this volume are:
From "A Voice in the Dusk''
Enchantment
To One Gone Hence
Quest
Sanctuary
Nightfall
Pity
Three Cinquains
The Lovers
I Could Have Loved Thee
Invocation
Last Night's Wind
From "Wind from the South"
Sorrow In Spring
Heartsease
To The Unfaithful Beloved
Captive
Canticle Of Spring
Four Cinquains
Song -
Evensong -
The Prisoner
Moon Magic
Leavetaking
In The Mournes
Night Piece
The Quiet Night
Unending Quest
From "Willow Leaves"
(Poems in the manner of the early Chinese poets)
Tu Li-Po
Nocturne
Dusk
We Are As Dust
The Sorrow Of Ming Huang
Spring
Wu
To Yuan (In The South)
The Soldiers
The Dancing Girl
Impatient For The Spring
Meeting With Friends
Music At Dusk
Cheng
Farewell
From "Nocturne"
Chopin
Trees
At The Coming Of Night
October
By A Riverside
Mairi
All Lovely Things
The Island
Craigey Woods
Spring
Jean
In The Faery Hills
Migration
Valediction
From "The Fountain of Hellas," 1944
(Adaptations from the Greek Anthology)
The Grecian Garland
The Poet' S Ascent
Enduring Wealth
The End Of Beauty
A Bower
A Dead Child
The Unfairness Of Wine
A Bumper
Erinna
A Dead Herdsman
To A Virgin
Astronomy
The Pastoral Pipe
From "With No Changed Voice"
Song
The Swans -
The Throstle
To A Blackbird -
Lines Addressed To A Great Artist
Lyric
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi -
The Undying Dream -
London Sketches
A Lost Cause
Beyond
Sibelius
Dark Red Roses
Sea-Haunted
Hellas
The Mother
Carrowdore
The Barley Field
The Changeling
Faery
To One Grown Old
Restless Woods
Night
The Heart Remembers Morning
Vale
Voces Intimae
Romance
To A Poet In Early Youth
The Rebuke
Highways And Byways
Padraig
Winter Sorrow
April
The Burden Of Unrest
Invocation In Winter
Pastoral
Lebanon
Transience
I will only share a few poems from that final section as I have shared three poems from each of the other volumes when I have reviewed them. This section begins with this quote:
“The waves of the sea have spoken to me; the wild birds have taught me; the music of many waters has been my master.”
-Kalevala
This final section is dedicated to W.H. Conn. Three sample poems from this section are:
TO A POET IN EARLY YOUTH
Poet, listen while I speak
Now that youth is on your cheek,
And the dream within your eyes,
Tell me all the ancient lies.
Tell me you have found love fair
You who have not known despair.
Tell me life is kind and sweet
You who have not known defeat.
Tell me of unclouded years
You who know not bitter tears.
Poet, you are dreaming yet
Things that gladly I forget.
Listen poet once again,
Songs like yours are sung in vain.
Such unquestioning belief
Ends in bitterness or grief.
Youth is ecstasy but blind.
Life will teach you, you will find,
That above our puny sighs
Each slow dusk the J?leiads rise,
And behind his prison bars
Man looks upward to the stars.
Each day that dawns, each sun that sets
Brings its yearnings and regrets,
But wisdom draws the veils aside.
Then the eyes are opened wide,
And suddenly the truth will ring
In every stanza that you sing . . .
And may be when a long time dead
Your verse will be admired and read.
I who keep a silent tongue
Once felt like you, when I was young,
And loved the beautiful and true,
But then, I was a poet too.
HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS
Meadows I love, and orchards and tall trees,
The little burns that sparkle and are bright,
And fields of barley in the sunny breeze,
And curlew calling in the dim half-light.
Old villages that lie among the hills,
The lonely glens and rivers that are slow,
The fuchsia hedges, and the fairy thorns,
And cottage doorways where the roses blow.
The little fields of Antrim and of Down,
The mountain paths and woodlands by the sea,
The rocky headlands and the sheltered bays,
And moorlands where the winds are blowing free.
The dusty· roads are waiting for our feet,
The country inns and many a leafy lane,
Oh come then, for the sake of old desire
And walk with me the Irish roads again.
WINTER SORROW
Even if the heart be numb with grief
There will be sweet days c0me again,
Of daffodil and fluttering leaf,
Of bird song and the silver rain.
Of childrens' voices and the sun,
Of whispering winds and twilights grey,
And quiet peace when day is done
And memories of yesterday.
The well-loved hills eternal stand,
White in the moon the meadows lie;
In life and death we are at one
With wind, and sun, and earth, and sky.
This final section is the only volume I am not able to track down in some library around the world. And I do not know if it was ever published. This collection was published 17 years before Irvine passed, so I do hope to track it down some day. I enjoyed this eleventh collection of poems that I have read from the pen of Irvine.
I was able to track down a copy of this thanks to the National Library of Ireland. The NLI has all volumes I have found written by Irvine and 5 of the 8 edited by him; which I will now be tracking down to review. I am now trying to hunt the remaining volumes down. These poems were very enjoyable, and I am certain they would be to you as well, if you give them a chance. It is the largest collection of Irvin’s work.
If you can track down a copy to read it is well worth it! Another great collection of poems I can easily recommend it.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2026 Catholic Reading Plan!
Books by John Irvine:
A Voice in the Dusk Lyrics
By Winding Roads
Fountain Of Hellas: Poems From The Greek Anthology
Two Poems
Voces Intimae
…
Edited by John Irvine:
A Christmas Garland - as J. Pennington Irvine
The Flowering Branch: An Anthology of Irish Poetry Past and Present
The Poems of Robert Burns
The Poems of Robert Louis Stevenson
The Poems of Tennyson
The Poems of Thomas Moore
…
