Derek Mahon

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poem. A poet in a Heian period kimono writes Japanese poetry during the Kamo Kyokusui No En Ancient Festival at Jonan-gu shrine on April 29, 2013 in Kyoto, Japan. Festival of Kyokusui-no Utage orignated in 1,182, party Heian era (794-1192).

World Poetry Day

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Discover

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Lusitania sinking, illustration from The War of the Nations (New York), December 31, 1919. World War I, WWI. This image is one of three on the page. (See source file for the other two.)

7 of the World’s Deadliest Shipwrecks

New Zealand. Political/Physical map. Includes locator.

Where Is “Old Zealand”?

Battle of the Alamo from "Texas: An Epitome of Texas History from the Filibustering and Revolutionary Eras to the Independence of the Republic, 1897. Texas Revolution, Texas revolt, Texas independence, Texas history.

6 Wars of Independence

Hemp (Cannabis sativa).

9 Mind-Altering Plants

Illustration for Demystified "How Dangerous is Quicksand"

How Deadly Is Quicksand?

Two chicks near an egg with a white background (poultry, chick, chickens, birds).

What Do Eggs Have to Do with Easter?

Derek Mahon: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

News •

Sam the Trinity fox, immortalised in Derek Mahon poem, has died • Apr. 8, 2025, 10:16 AM ET (Irish Times)

Facts

Born	November 23, 1941 • Belfast • Northern Ireland
Died	October 2, 2020 (aged 78) • Kinsale • Ireland
Notable Works	“Harbour Lights” • “Life on Earth” • “Night-Crossing” • “The Hunt by Night” • “The Snow Party” • “Twelve Poems”

Louis MacNeice

British poet

William Butler Yeats, c. 1915.

William Butler Yeats

Irish author and poet

Poet Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney

Irish poet

Thomas Kinsella

Irish poet

Eavan Boland

Irish poet and literary critic

Paul Muldoon

Paul Muldoon

Northern Irish poet

Opitz, Martin

Martin Opitz

German poet

John Banim

Irish author

George Meredith, detail of an oil painting by G.F. Watts, 1893; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

George Meredith

English novelist

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift

Anglo-Irish author and clergyman

James Joyce

James Joyce

Irish author

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

British author

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

Irish author

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, photograph by Lewis Carroll, 1863

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

English artist

William Morris

British artist and author

C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis

Irish-born author and scholar

Oliver Goldsmith, oil painting from the studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1770; in the National Portrait Gallery, London

Oliver Goldsmith

Anglo-Irish author

Colm Tóibín

Colm Tóibín

Irish author

Ted Hughes

Ted Hughes

British poet

Southey, detail of a pencil and watercolour portrait by R. Hancock, 1796; in the National Portrait Gallery, London

Robert Southey

English author

Quiz

4:043 Dickinson, Emily: A Life of Letters, This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me; I'll tell you how the Sun Rose/A Ribbon at a time; Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul

Famous Poets and Poetic Form

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:

Poetry: First Lines

Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry

A Study of Poetry