Upon Foreign Soil

Upon Foreign Soil, although the third of Deane's Icarus Editions, will serve most US readers as a good introduction to one of Ireland's contemporary poets. Nationalism and history loom large in Deane's vision of things, which is tart but not quite bitter and focuses on the life of a nation as played out among the countless obscure members who comprise it. While there's a keen perception of the divides of Irish life, Deane never stoops to the level of agitprop and is as uneasy with politics as he is with its effects.