Marine Institute celebrates Poetry Day Ireland with Odes to Our Ocean

To mark Poetry Day Ireland on 30th April 2020, the Marine Institute is sharing a selection of poems that celebrate the power of our seas and oceans.

For centuries, the sea has had a powerful presence in poetry. Both wild and calm, dangerous and beautiful, the sea has always captured our hearts and minds with its magic and mystery. From the infinite deep sea to the seashore, the ocean has evoked compelling imagery touching all the human senses and emotions.

The sea has been the setting for exploration and adventure, voyages to the great unknown, and inspired stories of mythical beings and curious creatures. The ocean has also played an important role in the history of many cultures, making it a setting that is both personal and universal.

Poetry Ireland is delighted that the Marine Institute is joining Poetry Day Ireland this year, as part of the online celebration of poetry taking place all over the island of Ireland. "It's wonderful that the Marine Institute is taking part, as the marine world has long been a subject of fierce fascination for poets," said Lisa Jewell of Poetry Ireland. "By sharing poems online during Poetry Day Ireland, the Institute is helping to bring people together through poetry and deepen their appreciation of our ocean."

The Marine Institute will share poems from well-known poets such as Ireland's beloved Seamus Heaney, and American poets Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Dickinson often wrote about the sea but it's believed she did so from her imagination, having never actually visited the ocean.

Other writers who have been captured by the sea's imagery include famous children's writer Lewis Carroll, and Irish poet and much-loved TV presenter Pat Ingoldsby. Poet Robin McNamara, living in Waterford city has also kindly shared his poem 'The Fisherman'. His poem is about the sacrifice and dangers faced by fishermen who fish the seas off Dunmore East, Co Waterford.

Poems inspired by the sea will be shared each day on the Marine Institute's social media channels – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – from 27th April to 2nd May 2020. The poems will also be available for download on the Marine Institute's website at Odes to Our Ocean

Discover more about our ocean through the Marine Institute's Oceans of Learning series, which offers downloadable resources, videos and interactive activities. To find out more, dive deep into the oceans of learning resources available at www.marine.ie

ENDS