In a Time of Violence: Poems

This collection, like Outside History, paints the feminine landscape with an unexpected strength. Her poems inspire me with their music and their accurate depiction of the conflicting feelings that the roles of mother, woman and artist/individual can produce. Boland, like Plath, creates myth from the familiar and reveals both the power and vulnerability of womanhood.My favorite poem is The Pomegranate, which I think should be required reading for any would-be mother, the mother of a daughter and/or a teen. When I heard Boland read this poem aloud, I was moved to tears. She is often compared to Heaney--not just because they're both Irish (I hope), but because her talent for controlling and using language is matched only by his. I cannot praise this work or this poet highly enough.