폴 멀둔(paul Muldoon)의 초기시

The Early Poetry of Paul Muldoon: Encoding and Betweenness

For admirers as well as detractors, the poems of Paul Muldoon have been difficult, elusive, and even obscure. This paper aims to explore some of the features dominant in his early poetry which reappear in his later works. In his mid-career, Muldoon has already published the great bulk of poems, and several critical works have been also published. However, his early poems remain less closely examined than later works. This paper examines some of his early poems in the context of biographical, social, political background, focusing on Knowing My Place in 1971 and New Weather in 1973. The two volumes were published while Muldoon was studying at Queen’s University from 1969 to 1973. During his university days, Muldoon experienced the most tumultuous riots in the recent history of Northern Ireland-terrorism, brutality and suppression-culminated in the tragic event of Blood Sunday in January 1972. Muldoon’s early poems are essentially grounded on parochialism, evincing the social, political, tribal segregation of Northern Irish communities. Yet he never flirts with one side of Northern Irish factions, keeping his position in betweenness. Often his double vision juxtaposed between a trivial reality and an imagined world brings out a humorous effect. Above all, his poetic words are cryptic and yet encoded. By examining his early poems, this paper discloses the principle of Muldoon poetic techniques; encoding and betweenness.