by Mark Sheehan

Created on: November 19, 2008

Austin Clarke, one of Ireland's most celebrated poets, masters the simplicity of language in his poem The Planter's Daughter. There is little pomp about its structure or imagery, which is perhaps only proper since it describes life in a small, parochial Irish village and the obsession that the locals have with the daughter of the local gentleman landowner.

The beauty of the planter's daughter is the centre of conversation, the source of unspoken inspiration for the awestruck men-folk, and is at the heart of gossip amongst the women of the village who see her (and the effect she has) every day.

None of these aspects are ever easily expressed in prose never mind verse, but Clarke manages to convey a clear impression, paint a clear picture, of all three with the use of simple, everyday language in a rhythm that is accessible to everyone.

Clarke begins by indirectly describing the intimacy of parochial life in a small coastal village, with a scene that involves a wild storm, a cold dark evening and the shelter that the real turf fire of the local pub offers the whole community. Everyone gathers there "the fire brought a crowd in" to talk and socialise. Faces cluttering together closely around the candlelight "and few in the candlelight" suggests an intensity about the relationship the villagers have, that it is a community that knows each other's comings and goings.

And yet, the planter's daughter is on the outside of this introverted circle of faces. She seems to glide through the poem ghostily in the background, at a distance from everyone else. She seems to be an untouchable, a girl of a higher class and greater fate. Clarke never describes her physically. There is no mention of her hair, her skin, her lips or any of the other traits that signify a great beauty. Reference to her is purely second-hand, through the sayings, thoughts or comments of the locals "They say that her beauty/ Was music in mouth" - The story therefore, as such, is in fact the effect that this girl has on the community, not the girl herself, and from that we are left to paint her picture ourselves.

"Men that had seen her/ Drank deeply and were silent", suggests there were simply no words to describe this lady, or at least none in their vocabulary. "The women were speaking/ Wherever she went" gives us a clear image of the gossip and (I would suggest) jealously that surrounded her.

"As a bell that is rung/ Or a wonder told shyly" is possibly the most intriguing imagery. Does it suggest there was

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