Francis Ledwidge

‘Ledwidge very deliberately chose not to bury his head in local sand and, as a consequence, faced the choices and moral challenges of his times with solitude, honesty and rare courage. This integrity, and its ultimately gratifying effects upon his poetry, should command the renewed interest and respect of the Irish people at the present time …’ – Seamus Heaney

Born in poverty in Slane, County Meath, Ledwidge worked as a farm hand, copper miner and road labourer. In his twenties he would become a rising star in the Irish literary scene, although he lived only to see one collection of his verse in print, receiving his author’s copy while freezing and on starvation rations in Serbia.

Although a staunch Irish Nationalist, he chose to fight in the First World War, where he died just short of his thirtieth birthday – in the inhuman nightmare that was the Third Battle of Ypres.

This selection of Francis Ledwidge’s poems, edited by Dermot Bolger, celebrates a remarkably gifted poet who, one hundred years after his tragic death in Ypres, is perhaps best known for the poetic brilliance of much of his work as well as the circumstances of his death.

Introduced by Seamus Heaney and with an extended afterword by Dermot Bolger, this volume captures the depth and lyric grace of Ledwidge’s finest poems and conjures a moving portrait of an eventful life cut tragically short.

„Ledwidge a ales in mod deliberat sa nu-si ingroape capul in nisipul local si, in consecinta, a infruntat alegerile si provocarile morale din vremurile sale cu singuratate, onestitate si curaj rar. Aceasta integritate si efectele sale pline de satisfactie asupra poeziei sale, ar trebui sa impuna interesul reinnoit si respectul poporului irlandez in prezent ... ”- Seamus Heaney Nascut in saracie in Slane, judetul Meath, Ledwidge a lucrat ca mana de ferma, miner de cupru si muncitor rutier.