Offers an annotated selection of literature from authors who focus on the natural world and the beauty of Ireland. The anthology begins with the Irish monks and their largely anonymous nature poetry, moves on to the nature literature of the Irish Literary Revival, and concludes with a section on Irish naturalist writers.

Foreword by John Wilson Foster Preface   Part I   Early Irish Nature Poetry IntroductionThe MysteryDeer’s Cry St. Columcille of IonaColumcille Fecit Caelius SeduliusInvocation Anonymous Early Irish Nature PoetryThe Blackbird by Belfast LoughThe ScribeThe White LakeThe LarkThe Hermit’s SongKing and HermitSong of the SeaSummer Has ComeSong of SummerSummer is GoneA Song of WinterArranBuile Suibhne Part II  Nature Writing and the Changing Irish Landscape Introduction Thomas Gainsford A Description of Ireland William AllinghamWishingThe FairiesThe Lover and BirdsAmong the HeatherIn a Spring GroveThe Ruined Chapel William Hamilton DrummondThe Giant’s Causeway, Book First James Clarence ManganThe Dawning of the DayThe Fair Hills of Eire, O!The Lovely Land: On a Landscape Painted by Maclise William Makepeace Thackeray From Irish Sketchbook William Carleton From The Black Prophet Emily Lawless From Hurrish: A Study Part III Nature and the Irish Literary Revival Introduction Katharine TynanThe Children of LirHigh SummerIndian SummerNymphsSt. Francis to the BirdsThe Birds’ BargainThe GardenThe Wind that Shakes the Barley AE (George Russell)By the Margin of the Great DeepOversoulThe Great BreathThe Voice of the WatersA New WorldA Vision of BeautyCarrowmoreCreationThe Winds of AngusThe Nuts of KnowledgeChildren of LirConnla’s Well From The Candle of Vision William Butler YeatsCoole Park, 1929Coole Park and Ballylee, 1931Who Goes with Fergus?Down by the Salley GardensIn the Seven WoodsThe Shadowy Waters (Introductory Lines)The Cat and the MoonThe Fairy PedantThe Lake Isle of InnisfreeThe Madness of King GollThe Song of Wandering Aengus ...The Stolen Child ...The Two Trees ...The White Birds ...The Wild Swans at Coole ... Eva Gore-BoothThe Dreamer ...Re-Incarnation ...Secret Waters ...The Little Waves of BreffnyThe Weaver John Millington SyngeIn KerryTo the Oaks of GlencreePreludeIn GlencullenOn an Island From The Aran Islands Riders to the Sea George Moore Preface and Chapter 1 from The Lake Padraic ColumA DroverA Cradle SongAcross the DoorThe Crane ...Dublin Roads ..River Mates ... Part IV Modern Irish Nature Poetry Introduction ... Patrick Kavanaugh ..PoplarsLilacs in the CityOctober Canal Bank WalkHaving to Live in the CountryInniskeen Road: July Evening On an Apple-Ripe September MorningPrimroseWet Evening in April Louis MacNeiceThe Sunlight on the Garden ..Wolves ...Tree Party Seamus Heaney ..Death of a NaturalistThe Salmon Fisher to the Fisherman LimboSt. Kevin and the Blackbird . Eavan BolandThe Lost LandThe RiverMountain TimeThis MomentOde to SuburbiaEscape ...A Sparrow Hawk in the Suburbs Moya CannonBees under SnowEavesdroppingTwo Ivory SwansWinter View from Binn BriocainPrimaveraThe Tube-Case MakersCrannogHazelnuts John MontagueAll Legendary ObstaclesThe Wild Dog RoseThe Trout Michael LongleyThe OspreyBadgerHedgehogKingfisherRobinOut of the SeaHer Mime of the Lame SeagullCarrigskeewaunSaint Francis to the Birds Derek MahonThe SeasonsAchillAphrodite’s PoolThe Mayo TaoPenhurst PlaceThe WoodsThe Dream Play “A Hermit”Leaves Sean LysaghtGolden EagleThe Clare Island SurveyGoldcrest From Bird Sweeney Desmond EganThe Great BlasketSunday EveningMeadowsweetSnow Snow Snow SnowA Pigeon DeadEnvoi Mary O’MalleyAbsentThe Man of AranPorpoisesThe Price of Silk is Paid in GoldThe StormLiaden with a Mortgage Briefly Tastes the Stars Rosemarie RowleyOsborn O h - Aimbirgin; A Cry from the Heart of a Poet—Morning in BearaThe Blackbird of Derry of the CairnIn Praise of the Hill Between of HowthBlind Seamus McCourt: Welcome to the Bird’Kitty Dwyer Part V  The Literature of Irish Naturalists Introduction John Tyndall Belfast Address Robert Lloyd Praeger From The Way That I Went Michael Viney From A Year’s Turning From The Irish Times, “Another Life” Tim Robinson From Connemara: Listening to the Wind, “Preface” From Connemara: Listening to the Wind, “The Boneyard” John Moriarty From Invoking Ireland   Appendix: Environmental Organizations in Ireland Acknowledgments Bibliography Index