Outside History (Leaving Cert English): Revision Notes

Outside History

Introduction

"Outside History" is a powerful poem by Irish poet Eavan Boland that weaves together cosmic imagery with deeply personal reflections. The poem explores the relationship between individual human experience and the vast sweep of history, particularly focusing on how women's stories have often been overlooked or marginalised in historical records.

About Eavan Boland

Eavan Boland was a significant Irish poet whose work frequently examined Irish life through a feminist lens. Her poetry gives voice to experiences that have traditionally been excluded from mainstream historical narratives, particularly those of Irish women. This perspective is central to understanding "Outside History."

Key themes

The poem addresses several interconnected themes:

• Mortality and the passage of time - comparing human lifespan to the eternal nature of stars
• Women's exclusion from history - how female experiences have been erased from official records
• The cosmic versus the personal - juxtaposing vast universal forces with individual human struggles
• Irish identity and history - specific references to Irish landscape and historical events

Structure

"Outside History" is written as a single stanza of twenty-one lines. This unbroken structure mirrors the continuous flow of time and history that the poem explores.

The poem doesn't follow a strict rhyme pattern, but Boland employs half rhyme throughout, creating subtle musical connections between words. She also uses assonance (repetition of vowel sounds) and consonance (repetition of consonant sounds) to create internal harmony within lines.

Key poetic techniques

Repetition

Boland repeatedly uses certain words and phrases to emphasise key concepts. The word "outside" appears multiple times, reinforcing the central theme of exclusion from historical narrative.

Alliteration

The poem contains several examples of alliteration, where words beginning with the same sound appear close together. For instance, "iron inklings" in line two creates a harsh, metallic sound that emphasises the coldness of the stars.

Enjambment

Many lines flow directly into the next without natural pause points. This technique forces readers to continue rapidly through the poem, mimicking the relentless passage of time. Examples include the transitions between lines three and four, and lines thirteen and fourteen.

Caesura

Boland frequently splits lines in half, sometimes with punctuation and sometimes without. This creates dramatic pauses that emphasise certain phrases. Notable examples appear in line five: "our pain did; they are, they have always been" and line twenty-one: "And we are too late. We are always too late."

Detailed analysis

Lines 1-6: The outsiders

The poem opens by establishing the stars as eternal outsiders. Boland immediately connects the title to the opening word "outsiders," making clear that this exclusion is the poem's central concern.

The phrase "iron inklings" creates a harsh, cold image of winter stars over Ireland. The word "inklings" suggests these stars provide only hints or suggestions rather than clear answers.

Boland emphasises how the stars exist beyond human timeframes - their light began "thousands of years before our pain did". This cosmic perspective makes human suffering seem temporary by comparison, yet the stars remain "outside history" just as women's experiences have been excluded from historical records.

Lines 7-11: Distance and choice

They keep their distance. Under them remains
a place where you found
(...)
And a time to choose between them.

The stars are personified as choosing to "keep their distance." This suggests they could engage more closely with human affairs if they wished, but instead remain aloof observers.

The speaker addresses "you" directly, creating intimacy with the reader while describing a landscape where one discovers their own mortality. This shift from cosmic observation to personal reflexion marks a crucial transition in the poem.

Lines 12-18: Personal choice and historical darkness

I have chosen:
(...)
firmaments with the dead.

Here the speaker makes a personal declaration, choosing to align herself with "that ordeal" rather than remaining outside history like the stars. This "ordeal" refers to the human experience of suffering and mortality.

The speaker wants to step away from the "darkness" that is "only now reaching" her. This darkness may represent historical tragedies (possibly referencing events like the Irish Potato Famine) whose effects continue to impact the present.

Lines 19-21: The impossibility of comfort

How slowly they die
(...)
And we are too late. We are always too late.

The poem's conclusion is deeply melancholic. Despite the speaker's choice to engage with history and mortality, she recognises the impossibility of providing comfort to those who have already died.

The repetition of "too late" emphasises human limitations. No matter how much we might wish to help those who suffered in the past, death creates an unbridgeable gap. We can remember and honour them, but we cannot change their fate.

Literary significance

"Outside History" demonstrates Boland's skill in connecting universal themes with specifically Irish experiences. The poem works on multiple levels - as a meditation on mortality, as a feminist statement about women's exclusion from history, and as a reflexion on Irish historical trauma.

The juxtaposition of cosmic and earthly imagery creates a powerful tension that runs throughout the poem, ultimately suggesting that while stars may exist outside history, humans cannot and should not attempt to do so.