Paul Muldoon and Mules: A Brief Biography in Context
Paul Muldoon was born in County Armagh in Northern Ireland in 1951. His mother was a schoolteacher, and his father held various farming jobs. His family wasn’t particularly well off, but were able to provide for Muldoon to have elocution lessons, and buy a piano for him and his siblings. He wrote poetry from an early age, and was initially only influenced by American poets such as T. S. Eliot, and Robert Frost. In an interview with the Guardian, Muldoon said he had a love for reading as an early child, but his family barely had any books in the house (Potts 1). Muldoon secondary school education at St. Patrick’s College, Armagh included education in Gaelic as well as a background in Irish folk tales (Potts 2). As a teenager Muldoon became exposed to Northern Irish poets such as Seamus Heaney, and his style changed to acknowledge his rural Irish upbringing. In 1969 Muldoon went to Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland and studied under Heaney. Heaney recognized Muldoon’s talent and arranged for his first full collection of poems, New Weather, to be published through the acclaimed British press Faber and Faber in 1973.
Even though it was just his first work, New Weather features Muldoon’s unique, sly style of writing. Critics of the collection felt the work was effective in shining new light on the world, while writing with multiple meanings and layers (Kendall, McDonald 1). In a review for Eire-Ireland, Roger Conover proclaims that Muldoon’s poetry “sees into things, and speaks of the world in terms of its own internal designs and patterns.” (Conover 127). As has become common with most of Muldoon’s work, New Weather was mostly well received, but some described its many intricacies and complex allusions as off-putting. With his first publication, Muldoon was held in the same regard by his European readers as his mentor Seamus Heaney, and other Northern Irish poets including Michael Longley, and Derek Mahon (Kendall, McDonald 1). Muldoon followed up New Weather with a second collection of poems in 1977 entitled Mules.
Mules is also very characteristically Muldoon in that the poems have many layers of meanings, and many of the poems discuss the dual nature of different creations. The title poem is a fine example of his exploration with dualities. “Mules” ponders the possibilities of the divine being combined with the earthly, and it is a common theme throughout the collection. While maintaining a similar style of writing to his previous work, Mules covers different topics ranging from politics, love, and death. Mules had developed while a series of violent internal conflicts in North Ireland called the Troubles were escalating. “The Narrow Road to the Deep North” is a good example of the mingling of Muldoon’s classic style of multiple layers of meaning with his new interest in political and social affairs. It depicts a Japanese solider who has come out of hiding after World War II and finds he is in a different world. There are subtle comparisons between the shell-shocked soldier and the state of the Irish citizens during the Troubles. Mules helped to solidify Muldoon’s place among the group of Northern Irish poets who were growing ever more popular. While Muldoon gained a following in Ireland and England with his initial works, it wasn’t until his eighth collection Quoof that he gained much attention in America (“Paul Muldoon” 2).
As was the case with Mules after New Weather, most critics felt each new collection of Muldoon’s was an example of his increased sophistication as a writer. He didn’t become any more structured by form, but he wrote with a greater sense of what his personal style was. Roger Eder in a New York Times Book Review (June 10, 2001) felt "It is as if the universe were no longer there to be grasped. Some vast catastrophe has exploded it and Muldoon, from this side of the postmodern divide; sifts shards, sorts them, tries them out in pleasing patterns." Muldoon’s works were trying to make sense of the world as a whole, and also of his homeland of Ireland. Muldoon emigrated from Ireland to America in 1987, and has taught at Princeton University ever since. Muldoon continues to write in his sly style that requires multiple readings and prompts readers to catch sometimes obscure allusions. Muldoon won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for his collection Moy Sand and Gravel and continues to publish collections of poetry.
Bibliography of Paul Muldoon’s Individual Poetry Books
• Knowing My Place. Belfast: Ulsterman Publications, 1971
• New Weather. London: Faber and Faber, 1973
• Spirit of Dawn. Belfast: Ulsterman Publications, 1975
• Mules. London: Faber and Faber, 1977
• Names and Addresses. Belfast: Ulsterman Publications, 1978
• Immram. Loughcrew: Gallery Press, 1980
• Why Brownlee Left. London: Faber and Faber, 1980
• Out of Siberia. Loughcrew: Gallery Press, 1982
• Quoof. London: Faber and Faber, 1983
• The Wishbone. Loughcrew: Gallery Press, 1984
• Meeting the British. London: Faber and Faber, 1987
• Madoc: A Mystery. London: Faber and Faber, 1990
• The Prince of the Quotidian. Loughcrew: Gallery Press, 1994
• The Annals of Chile. London: Faber and Faber, 1994
• Kerry Slides. Loughcrew: Gallery Press, 1996
• Hay. London: Faber and Faber, 1998
• Moy Sand And Gravel. London: Faber and Faber, 2002
• Horse Latitudes. London: Faber and Faber, 2006
• Plan B. London: Enitharmon, 2009
• Wayside Shrines. Loughcrew: Gallery Press, 2009
• Maggot. London: Faber and Faber, 2010
Works Cited
Conover, Roger. Review of New Weather. Eire-Ireland, summer, 1975 p. 127
Eder, Roger. “To Understand Is to Be Perplexed.” New York Times Book Review, June
10, 2001.
Kendall, Tim, and Peter McDonald. Paul Muldoon: Critical Essays. Liverpool: Liverpool
UP, 2003. Google Books. Web. 26 Mar. 2011.
"Paul Muldoon." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Gale
Biography In Context. Web. 6 Feb. 2011.
“Paul Muldoon.” The Poetry Archive. Web. 6 Feb 2011.
Potts, Robert. “The Poet at Play.” The Guardian, May 12, 2001
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