The War Horse (Leaving Cert English): Revision Notes
The War Horse
Poem context and publication
"The War Horse" was written by Eavan Boland and published in 1975. This poem emerged from Boland's personal experience of living in suburban Dublin during the early 1970s, a period marked by violence in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.
The timing of this poem is significant - it was written during the height of The Troubles (1968-1998), when violence in Northern Ireland was at its peak and regularly featured in news broadcasts across Ireland.
Background information
Boland provides insight into the poem's inspiration through her own account. In her mid-twenties, she moved to a suburban house in the Dublin mountains foothills. The area was harsh and underdeveloped, with cold weather, half-finished roads, and inadequate street lighting. During this period, television news regularly reported deaths and statistics from the ongoing conflict.
The Real-Life Inspiration
One evening, while having coffee and watching the news, Boland heard something at her front door. She discovered a large, dishevelled horse that had wandered onto her doorstep before wandering away. The horse returned several times, causing minor damage to gardens - uprooting crocus bulbs, damaging hedge seedlings, and disturbing grass seeds. This real-life encounter inspired Boland to write the poem, which she completed at age twenty-seven.
Summary of the poem
The poem opens with a seemingly ordinary evening in suburban Dublin when a stray horse wanders through the quiet neighbourhood. The speaker observes the horse through her window as it moves along the street, its hooves making noise on the pavement and causing minor damage to gardens. Initially, the horse's presence creates tension and uncertainty, but when it moves on, the speaker feels relief.
However, the poem shifts from this immediate domestic scene to broader reflections about violence, safety, and historical memory. The damaged plants become symbols connecting the present moment to Ireland's violent past, particularly referencing the Ribbonmen and historical conflicts.
The poem explores how those living in safety respond to violence and whether distance creates indifference to suffering.
Major themes
Violence versus domesticity: The poem contrasts the peaceful suburban setting with the intrusion of something wild and potentially threatening. This reflects the broader contrast between civilian safety and ongoing conflict.
Historical memory and connection: Through the damaged rose and references to "illicit braid," Boland connects the present moment to Ireland's troubled history, suggesting that violence has ancient roots.
Civilian response to conflict: The poem examines how people respond when violence threatens their safety, exploring themes of fear, relief, and moral responsibility.
Distance and indifference: Boland questions whether those not directly affected by violence become indifferent to the suffering of others, viewing it with only "distant interest."
The central tension in the poem lies between the safety of suburban life and the awareness that violence exists elsewhere. This reflects the complex position of Irish civilians during The Troubles - safe but not untouched by the broader conflict.
Literary techniques and language
Symbolism: The horse represents war and violence intruding into peaceful domestic life. The damaged rose symbolises Ireland and what has been destroyed by historical conflicts.
Worked Example: Onomatopoeia in Action
Onomatopoeia: "Clip, clop, casual" mimics the sound of the horse's hooves, making the reader hear its approach and creating rhythm that mirrors the horse's movement.
This technique makes the horse's presence immediate and audible to the reader, drawing them into the suburban scene.
Enjambment: Lines flow into each other, particularly in the opening stanzas, creating the sense of the horse's continuous movement through the neighbourhood.
Metaphor: The horse "stamps death / Like a mint on the innocent coinage of earth" transforms the horse's hooves into instruments that mark the ground with violence.
Juxtaposition: The poem places ordinary suburban concerns alongside references to historical violence and conflict, highlighting the tension between different experiences of Irish life.
Important symbolism
The horse: Represents war, violence, and Ireland's troubled past intruding into contemporary peaceful life. It embodies the powerful, destructive force that civilians hope will pass them by.
The rose: Symbolises Ireland itself and what has been destroyed by historical conflicts. Its destruction connects the present moment to past suffering.
Understanding the Garden Symbolism
The damaged garden: Represents how violence disrupts peaceful, cultivated life. The "torn" hedge and uprooted plants suggest the broader damage caused by conflict.
Windows and curtains: Represent the barrier between safety and danger, between involvement and observation. The act of opening the window suggests engagement, while curtains represent withdrawal and avoidance.
Key vocabulary and definitions
Hock: The joint on a horse's hind leg
Fetlock: A projection on the back of a horse's leg, just above the hoof
Bulbous: Fat and round (describing the crocus)
Atavism: Reversion to ancestral characteristics - the speaker's connection to historical fears and responses
Subterfuge: Evasive technique - how neighbours avoid confronting the horse
Illicit braid: Refers to the green ribbon worn by the Ribbonmen, members of a 19th-century secret society formed to fight for the cause of poor Irish Catholics
The term atavism is particularly important as it connects the speaker's immediate response to deeper, inherited patterns of behaviour when faced with violence or threat.
Analysis points
The poem's structure mirrors its thematic content. Beginning with immediate, domestic concerns, it gradually expands to encompass historical and moral questions about violence and response. The horse's temporary presence creates lasting reflexion about Ireland's relationship with its violent past.
Boland positions herself as both observer and participant. She opens the window to look closer but doesn't intervene. This reflects the complex position of those who witness violence from a position of relative safety.
Critical Analysis Point
The poem's ending connects the speaker's experience to ancestral memory through atavism, suggesting that responses to violence and conflict are deeply embedded in Irish historical experience. The damaged rose becomes a symbol linking present suburban life to centuries of conflict and loss.
The language shifts between the domestic and the martial, with battlefield imagery ("stamping death," "maimed limb") applied to a suburban garden, emphasising how historical violence continues to intrude into contemporary Irish life.
Remember!
Key Points to Remember:
- The horse symbolises historical violence intruding into peaceful modern life - it represents Ireland's troubled past affecting the present
- The poem explores civilian responses to conflict - examining fear, relief, and moral responsibility when violence threatens
- Atavism connects the speaker to ancestral experience - suggesting that responses to violence are deeply embedded in Irish historical memory
- The damaged rose symbolises Ireland and historical loss - linking the garden damage to broader patterns of destruction in Irish history
- Literary techniques mirror thematic content - enjambment creates movement like the horse, while symbolism connects domestic and historical elements