Tenant is a historical narrative sequence, following the fortunes of the fictional O’Sullivan family through the traumatic years of Ireland’s Great Famine, 1845–49. The fate of the main character, Rena, reflects the social devastation and historical legacy of the period. The poems are visceral, entering into the various physical experiences with mirroring rhythms and uncompromising bluntness. Several types of hunger are explored: the depressive tendencies of Rena’s father, Peadar; Rena’s yearning for glamour and position; the desire for national self-determination; the need for harmonious personal relationships. The style changes as the story progresses, marking the shift from innocence to knowledge and the complex redemption of time. The poem, ‘Mór’, in the voice of a goddess of the earth, signals transition:
‘Humans are small things that think themselves big.
What I am is spirit matter, pulsing out in heaves and swirls,
rising from the shifting points of earth,
all points thinking they’re the centre,
sending out their waves.’
