Final Word: Where is Justin now?

By Paul Moore

Paul Durcan is dead. If you have not been aware of Durcan as a poet you probably have stumbled on him if you listen to any Van Morrison music. Durcan is the voice which narrates parts of the song In the Days Before Rock and Roll, in particular the bewildering question, ‘Where is Justin Now?’ Durcan is recognised as one of Ireland’s greatest poets with a unique style which merged humour and tragedy in ways which surprised while at the same time illuminating.

His death comes only a few weeks after the death of the great poet of the north, Michael Longley, and to an extent these two deaths mark the passing of a generation of poets. Ireland has a unique relationship with poetry and its poets. We tend to see them as national heroes and while other countries have their recognised writers – for example Wordsworth or Keats – they are not held in the same regard as Irish poets by the general population, as people who spoke the thoughts of each generation. My generation was headed by Heaney, Longley, Durcan, Dawe, Montague and it is interesting that there are no females in that list. The next generation’s poets are I know, a much different mix. For my generation though, only Paul Muldoon remains of that grouping.

Having that list of poets as generational peers was both a gift and a problem. The problem was that even if one had a passing interest in poetry (and many of us had since the poets were like rock stars) it stopped you from writing anything because you knew you would not be as good as the poetry being churned out by others. In my job at the big school I was fortunate, and privileged, to be asked to interview in front of a live audience a couple of this cohort, Paul Muldoon and John Montague, since they were honorary graduates of the university. Paul Muldoon was in what seemed like a transition period for his work. He said he was more interested in writing song lyrics and wanted to move into the music scene, something he has since done by collaborating with musicians such as Paul McCartney. I did think it was a bit rich that he was blessed with such a poetic talent and then he wanted to move into another popular cultural area and take that over as well.

John Montague was a different proposition. An older and more revered poet in some ways he had a combative and mischievous nature which showed itself immediately when I asked him about being sent to Tyrone from New York when he was only four. I happened to use the phrase ‘you were sent back’ and he immediately asked how one could be sent back to a place where one had not previously been. Thankfully he tolerated me and spent a glorious hour talking about his writing and his relationship with Tyrone and Ireland even though he then lived in Paris. I still think his work is of a similar stature to Heaney.

Poetry is again being touted as the new rock and roll due mainly I think to the visibility the punk poet John Cooper Clarke is rightly getting after all years where he was overlooked. What I find interesting is that I cannot think of a range of poets from Northern Ireland who could be considered to make up a cohort such as that which has passed. Perhaps I am not following it in the same way anymore and I do realise that the number of female poets working in the region is now recognised and celebrated. But I still cannot see the next Heaney, Montague or Longley.