Austin Clarke
Austin Clarke is regarded as one of the most significant Irish poets writing in English during the mid-20th century, positioned between the esteemed figures of William Butler Yeats and Seamus Heaney. Born in Dublin in 1896, he was influenced by his devout Catholic upbringing and the strictures of church life, which became prominent themes in his work. Educated at Belvedere College and University College Dublin, Clarke's early career began in the 1920s when he moved to London and contributed as a book reviewer while also exploring playwriting and novel writing. His poetry, first published in 1917, is known for skillfully incorporating the rhythms of the Gaelic language into English verse, influencing generations of poets thereafter.
Clarke's body of work includes numerous poetry collections, verse dramas, and memoirs, through which he expressed a critical voice regarding contemporary societal issues, particularly those related to the Catholic Church and Irish identity. His later poetry, published between 1964 and 1971, showcases a mature style characterized by irony and a blend of abstract and concrete imagery. Clarke's contributions to literature were recognized posthumously, although he often remained overshadowed by his contemporaries. He passed away in Dublin in 1974, leaving behind a rich legacy of literary work that reflects the complexities of Irish culture and history.
Subject Terms
Austin Clarke
Irish poet, journalist, and novelist
- Born: May 9, 1896
- Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
- Died: March 19, 1974
- Place of death: Dublin, Ireland
Biography
Austin Clarke is commonly acknowledged as the best Irish poet writing in English in the years between William Butler Yeats and Seamus Heaney. Although Clarke was born only about thirty years after Yeats, his career was at its strongest in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Born and raised in Dublin, Clarke attended Belvedere College (1903–13) and then University College, Dublin, on a scholarship. There he was a student of Thomas MacDonagh, a lecturer in English literature who was executed after the Easter Rebellion in 1916. Clarke’s father Augustine was a local government official; his mother, Ellen Patten Browne, a devout Catholic, was a great influence on her son’s writing. In 1917, Clarke succeeded MacDonagh in the college, but his contract was not renewed when college officials learned that Clarke had married outside the Catholic church. Ironically, the marriage lasted only about a year. The strictness of the rules of the Church was a favorite topic in Clarke’s poetry, as were the lives and habits of the Irish themselves. His earliest books of poetry, published in 1917, 1921, and 1925, show his gift for bringing the rhythms and patterns of the Gaelic language into English poetry, a talent which gave him a lasting influence on later poets.
Clarke moved to London in 1921 to find work. He became a book reviewer for newspapers and magazines and continued to write poetry. He also began writing verse plays, which Yeats had made popular, and novels on Irish themes. Clarke was especially interested in medieval Christian Ireland, as his first play, The Son of Learning, shows. In the play, Clarke introduces the medieval Irishman Anier MacConglinne, a comic-heroic visionary whose story would be picked up again in his second novel, The Singing Men at Cashel. In 1929, Clarke published his fifth book of poetry, which was focused on the theme of the past’s role in the present. The book shows great technical skill and variety in composition. In 1936, the year before he moved back to Dublin, Clarke published his Collected Poems, in which all his earlier poetry volumes except The Fires of Baal were reprinted.
When Clarke returned to Dublin, he remarried and set up residence at Bridge House, Templelogue, County Dublin, where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1938, from his own Bridge Street Press, he issued the last book of poetry he would write until 1955. That same year, Clarke cofounded (with Robert Farren) the Dublin Verse Speaking Society to promote excellence in public speaking among theatrical performers and radio broadcasters.
During the 1940s, Clarke wrote nearly once a month for the newspaper The Irish Times and continued to write verse dramas, of which As the Crow Flies is the best known. Although he was very interested in playwriting, his efforts were not highly regarded. They were, however, occasionally performed.
In 1955, Clarke returned to writing poetry, and between 1964 and 1971 he published ten books of poetry, his collected plays, two memoirs, and literary criticism. As a mature poet, Clarke wrote about events in daily life clearly and realistically, frequently using irony and the cynical voice of the satirist to critique the Catholic church, political policies, external expectations for Irish society, the loss of the past, and human frailties, especially self-deception and its consequences. In the verse of his later years, Clarke deftly employed a variety of technical skills, poetic personae, and images of abstract and concrete topics, especially as they related to technology, nature, and mechanization.
Austin Clarke died in Dublin in 1974. Because of the towering genius of Yeats, Clarke has been underestimated. A prolific poet and accomplished journalist, dramatist, and novelist, Clarke achieved the dream of his teacher, Thomas MacDonagh, in bringing the rhythms and patterns of the Irish language into masterfully written English literature.
Author Works
Poetry:
The Vengeance of Fionn, 1917 (based on the Irish Saga “Pursuit of Diarmid and Grainne”)
The Fires of Baal, 1921
The Sword of the West, 1921
The Cattledrive in Connaught, and Other Poems, 1925 (based on the prologue to Tain bo Cuailnge)
Pilgrimage, and Other Poems, 1929
The Collected Poems of Austin Clarke, 1936
Night and Morning, 1938
Ancient Lights, 1955
Too Great a Vine: Poems and Satires, 1957
The Horse-Eaters: Poems and Satires, 1960
Collected Later Poems, 1961
Forget-Me-Not, 1962
Flight to Africa, and Other Poems, 1963
Mnemosyne Lay in Dust, 1966
Old-Fashioned Pilgrimage, and Other Poems, 1967
The Echo at Coole, and Other Poems, 1968
Orphide, and Other Poems, 1970
Tiresias: A Poem, 1971
The Wooing of Becfolay, 1973
Collected Poems, 1974
The Selected Poetry of Austin Clarke, 1976
Long Fiction:
The Bright Temptation, 1932, 1973
The Singing Men at Cashel, 1936
The Sun Dances at Easter, 1952
Drama:
The Son of Learning, pr., pb. 1927, pr. 1930 (as The Hunger Demon)
The Flame, pb. 1930, pr. 1932
Sister Eucharia, pr., pb. 1939
Black Fast, pb. 1941, pr. 1942
As the Crow Flies, pr. 1942 (radio play), pb. 1943, pr. 1948 (staged)
The Kiss, pr. 1942, pb. 1944
The Plot Is Ready, pr. 1943, pb. 1944
The Viscount of Blarney, pr., pb. 1944
The Second Kiss, pr., pb. 1946
The Plot Succeeds, pr., pb. 1950
The Moment Next to Nothing, pr., pb. 1953
Collected Plays, pb. 1963
The Student from Salamanca, pr. 1966, pb. 1968
Two Interludes Adapted from Cervantes: “The Student from Salamanca” and “The Silent Lover,” pb. 1968
The Impuritans: A Play in One Act Freely Adapted from the Short Story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, pb. 1972
The Visitation, pb. 1974
The Third Kiss, pb. 1976
Liberty Lane, pb. 1978
Nonfiction:
Poetry in Modern Ireland, 1951
Twice ’Round the Black Church: Early Memories of Ireland and England, 1962
A Penny in the Clouds: More Memories of Ireland and England, 1968
The Celtic Twilight and the Nineties, 1969
Growing Up Stupid Under the Union Jack: A Memoir, 1980
Bibliography
Algoo-Baksh, Stella. Austin C. Clarke: A Biography. Toronto: ECW Press, 1994. Combines a narrative of Austin Clarke’s life with thoughtful interpretations of some of his major works. Gives a portrait of Clarke’s puplic persona but few details of his personal life. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Corcoran, Neil. Poets of Modern Ireland. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1999. Contains an essay on Clarke, which while focusing on his poetic achievements, provides insight into his verse plays.
Garratt, Robert F. Modern Irish Poetry: Tradition Continuity from Yeats to Heaney. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986. This important book devotes a chapter to Clarke, the main figure of transition for twentieth century Irish poetry. Clarke’s early poetry followed William Butler Yeats in retelling Irish myths, his middle work focused on medievalism, and his later poems echoed James Joyce in their critical analysis of religion. Contains an index and select bibliography that includes material on Clarke.
Halpern, Susan. Austin Clarke: His Life and Work. Dublin: Dolmen Press, 1974. While this survey of Clarke’s prolific output in prose and verse concentrates on the verse, Halpern does devote a chapter to Clarke’s theory and practice of drama. She discusses all Clarke’s plays and places them in the context of Clarke’s work as a whole. Substantial bibliography.
Harmon, Maurice. Austin Clarke, 1896-1974: A Critical Introduction. Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 1989. The introduction covers the life of Clarke, the contexts for his writing, his Catholicism, and his participation in nationalist movements. Two phases are then examined: first, his prose, drama, and poetry from 1916 to 1938; second, his sustained work in poetry, short and long, from 1955 to 1974. Supplemented by a portrait, notes, a bibliography, and an index.
Irish University Review 4 (Spring, 1974). This special issue on Clarke contains a detailed account of his involvement with, and artistic contributions to, the Dublin Verse-Speaking Society and the Lyric Theatre Company, and it provides a complete list of the two organizations’ productions. The issue also includes an overview that appraises the distinctive contribution made to the diversification and development of Irish theater by Clarke’s dramatic works. The general conclusion is that Clarke’s work for the theater is by no means a negligible part of his contribution to Irish literature.
Loftus, Richard J. “Austin Clarke: Ireland of the Black Church.” In Nationalism in Modern Anglo-Irish Poetry. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1964. Focuses on Clarke’s contributions to Irish verse: use of Gaelic prosody, creation of beauty from harsh peasantry, and experimental verse drama. Most of the chapter reviews Clarke’s satirical anger at the Irish Catholic church. Includes notes, a bibliography, and an index.
Murphy, Daniel. “Disarmed, a Malcontent.” In Imagination and Religion in Anglo-Irish Literature, 1930-1980. Blackrock, Ireland: Irish Academic Press, 1987. Analyzes Clarke’s lyrics and satires. Also examines religious tensions in Mnemosyne Lay in Dust, reviews Clarke’s use of history, examines Clarke’s satirical style, and finally sketches Clarke’s use of nature. The chapter is supplemented by notes and a bibliography. The book contains an index.
Ricigliano, Lorraine. Austin Clarke: A Reference Guide. New York: Maxwell Macmillan International, 1993. A chronology of the major works by Clarke; an alphabetical list of all the individual poems and plays in the volumes cited; and a secondary bibliography, also arranged chronologically from 1918 to 1992, with descriptive annotations.
Schirmer, Gregory A. The Poetry of Austin Clarke. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983. This critique of Clarke’s poetry sheds light on his dramatic works, which were verse plays. Bibliography and index.
Tapping, G. Craig. Austin Clarke: A Study of His Writings. Dublin: Academy Press, 1981. After calling Clarke’s tradition “modern classicism,” Craig sketches a background of Romanticism to “Celto-Romanesque.” Five chapters study the poetic drama, the novels, the poetry from 1938 to 1961, the poetry of the 1960s, and the new poems as treatments of old myths. Augmented by bibliographies, notes, an appendix, and an index.