politics and poetics 67rail lines as well as its buildings. Inscribed in their making is a
history of incredible sacrifi ce, many that ‘have died for this day’,
and the poet asks to ‘sing the names of the dead who brought us
here’. For Alexander and Angelou, America remains in a state
of possibility and the role of the inaugural poem is not to glorify
political achievements. Instead their poems display a need to fi nd
connections between citizens and act as a reminder of the fail-
ures, as well as the possibilities, inherent in political rhetoric. In
this way, both are following Jordan’s premise of the relationship
between poetry and politics: ‘I am saying that the ultimate connec-
tion cannot be the enemy. The ultimate connection must be the
need that we fi nd between us. It is not only who you are, in other
words, but what we can do for each other that will determine the
connection.’^23
PASTORAL AND LUDIC: SEAMUS HEANEY AND PAUL
MULDOON
On 8 May 2007 the opening of the Northern Irish Assembly at
Stormont presented an unlikely coupling of First Minister Ian
Paisley, the Democratic Unionist Party leader, and deputy First
Minister Martin McGuinness, a former IRA commander. The
Guardian commented that it was an ‘extraordinary display of cross-
community unity’ marking ‘a symbolic end to the Troubles’.^24
Eventually nicknamed the ‘chuckle brothers’, at the close of their
shared ministerial offi ce McGuinness gave a parting gift to Paisley.
The Times noted that the gift was a pair of framed poems composed
by McGuinness himself.^25 The paper added that ‘Just in case Mr
Paisley was not too keen on his poetic efforts, Mr McGuinness
had also asked Seamus Heaney, the Nobel laureate, to write out in
long-hand some lines from Heaney’s The Cure at Troy.’
McGuinness’s action illustrates how poetry is associated with
ideas of intimacy and ceremony. The uneasy alliance between
poetry and politics often conjures the fear of performing work
that is mere rhetoric or polemic in verse. A snapshot of the
poetry of Northern Ireland written between 1975 and 1983 , from
Heaney’s North ( 1975 ), Derek Mahon’s The Snow Party ( 1975 )