Her writing often dwells on matters of faith, concern for the poor, feminism, and the landscape of Ireland. She wrote many poems about the human impact of World War I.
In 1907 the Dun Emer Press produced a limited-edition handmade collection of her poetry called Twenty One Poems written by Katharine Tynan: Selected by W.B. Yeats. The press, in fact, was an ambitious project of Yeats’ sisters and a friend who produced cards, broadsheets, and literary books.
The following is the opening poem in Twenty One Poems. Another poem from this collection is the current selection at my journal Poems For Ephesians.
Sheep and Lambs
All in the April evening,
April airs were abroad;
The sheep with their little lambs
Passed me by on the road.
The sheep with their little lambs
Passed me by on the road;
All in the April evening
I thought on the Lamb of God.
The lambs were weary and crying
With a weak, human cry.
I thought on the Lamb of God
Going meekly to die.
Up in the blue, blue mountains
Dewy pastures are sweet;
Rest for the little bodies,
Rest for the little feet.
But for the Lamb of God,
Up on the hill-top green,
Only a Cross of shame
Two stark crosses between.
All in the April evening,
April airs were abroad;
I saw the sheep with their lambs,
And thought on the Lamb of God.
*This is the second Kingdom Poets post about Katharine Tynan: first post.
Entry written by D.S. Martin. He is the author of five poetry collections including Angelicus (2021, Poiema/Cascade), and three anthologies — available through Wipf & Stock. His new book The Role of the Moon, inspired by the Metaphysical Poets, is forthcoming from Paraclete Press.
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