Kristina McCue

Ni Ghriofa's account of her fascination with by Eibhlin Dubh Ni Chonaill's 18th century poem about her husband's murder, "Caoineadh Airt Ui Laoghaire" ("Lament for Art O'Leary"), becomes the counterpoint to reflections on her own life as a 21st century poet, woman, and mother. The lengthy lament, which is considered the most lovely and resonant poem in Irish literature, is included in Ni Ghriofa's new translation. The book is a literary, historical, and feminist exploration by one poet of the life and work of another as it moves fluidly between the moments in modern Ireland when Ni Ghriofa wrote the book mostly while sitting in her car between domestic errands and when the "horseman of the bright sword" fell in 1773. It is a personal memoir about literary obsession and historical mystery, and Ni Ghriofa meets the beauty of the poem with beautiful prose.