Ruth Concannon and Lisa Flanagan of the National Library of Ireland introduce A Hopeful Poetry, an online event for this year's First Fortnight Mental Health Art & Culture Festival, exploring hopeful lines in the poems of W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney.
January can be a difficult time for many. Once the busy period of Christmas passes with much time having been spent with family or friends, we can often be left feeling overwhelmed and isolated in the quiet of January. First Fortnight offers a moment of breathing space during those difficult first two weeks to provide free mental health resources in the form of arts and culture.
This year for the second time, we're hosting A Hopeful Poetry. The aim of this workshop is to share our favourite lines of poetry that bring us peace, inspire hope and help to boost feelings of wellbeing.
In January of 2021, Lisa had the brilliant idea of joining forces to carve out an hour of peace and poetry. We had been hosting online events, talks and virtual tours throughout the 2020 lockdowns at the NLI on Heaney and Yeats. Through these events, we had found that the poetry of Yeats and Heaney seemed to have a positive effect; offering a brief respite from the uncertainty and fear that coloured many people’s experience of the pandemic. It is a profound act of self-care to pause and take a mindful moment to read some poetry, but often this is all we need to lift our spirits enough to see our situations in a different light.
Many poetic works of Seamus Heaney and William Butler Yeats are inherently mindful. For Lisa, when she first started working on the Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again exhibition one thought that struck her was the mindful quality of Heaney’s later poems. His determination to appreciate the moment he existed in no matter how busy life became. This is seen in poems like Postscript in which he describes his appreciation for the landscape of the Flaggy Shore in County Clare. To Lisa, Heaney’s celebration of language is also mindful. He spends time immersed in language because it’s what he loved to do. It reminds us that taking the time to do what you love is a valuable way to spend your time.
For Ruth, the immersive quality of Yeats' poetry provides a powerful escape from the stresses of everyday life. In the poetry of WB Yeats, many poems are focused on nature, using images, atmosphere and sound in order to involve all of the reader’s senses, immersing them in the moment. WB Yeats’ nature-based poems serve as particularly powerful reminders of the ways that focusing on nature can help to improve your mental wellbeing. While neither poet may have explicitly used the words 'mindfulness’ many of their poems when read during a mindful moment can induce feelings of calm.
Heartened by the response from last year’s participants, we have decided to host another Hopeful Poetry event as part of First Fortnight on the 13th of January at 1pm. In this relaxed and interactive workshop, we'll explore some of our favourite hopeful lines of poetry from the work of WB Yeats and Seamus Heaney. Participants will be invited to share their own favourite hopeful verses of poetry from Yeats, Heaney or other poets. The workshop will then conclude with a guided meditation and visualisation inspired by the poetry covered. No poetry expertise or preparation is needed for this event, simply bring your favourite lines of poetry and a love for the written word.
We hope that this workshop will offer a moment of solace, peace and hope for anyone who needs it most.
A Hopeful Poetry with The National Library of Ireland takes place online on Friday, January 13th 2023 at 1 pm - find out more here.
Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again is a National Library of Ireland exhibition based in the Bank of Ireland Cultural and Heritage Centre on Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2 - find out more here.
Yeats: The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats is a National Library of Ireland exhibition based in the NLI building on 7-8 Kildare Street - find out more here.
The First Fortnight Mental Health Art & Culture Festival runs from January 6th - 15th - find out more about this year's programme here.
