Landscapes Old and New, Poems by Allen Ireland

Landscapes Old and New is Allen Ireland’s third book of poetry, combining new poems with poems from his previous collections, all centered on remembered natural places, illustrating with power and precision how exterior landscapes can mirror the landscapes of the soul. Through his characters, set against nature’s backdrops, Ireland shows us that we are all products of the natural world, in a tug-of-war between community and isolation, despair and optimism, and life and death.

Sample Poems by Allen Ireland

“With its flawless metered rhymes and visceral lucidity, Landscapes Old and New palpitates with musicality, emotion, and truth. Ireland is a poetic storyteller with a microscopic eye for observing not only the physical world but also the woods, seas, and plains of the human heart. As it weaves together diverse terrains, peoples, histories, and issues, the collection itself cultivates a vital unity and empathy that the world desperately needs. Echoing the mystical nature wisdom that calls to mind Emerson and Frost, Ireland shows us that transcending divisions and human cruelty can begin by revisiting landscapes.”—Danita Dodson, author of The Medicine Woods

“The poems in Landscapes Old and New dance and sing out truths; the syllables stand and ride. Ireland’s poetry lives in the realm where the known acknowledges imagination’s delight.”—Shelby Stephenson, former Poet Laureate of NC