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Here are some **verified words of wisdom from Eavan Boland** (1944–2020), the Irish poet, essayist, and teacher, whose work often gave voice to women’s everyday experiences and wove them into the fabric of history:
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**1. On the power of poetry**
“Poetry begins where language starts: in the shadows and accidents of one person’s life.”
(*From her essay collection* *Object Lessons: The Life of the Woman and the Poet in Our Time*, 1995)
*Reflection:* Boland reminds us that poetry is not lofty or separate from life; it is born out of the details, mistakes, and intimate textures of daily living.
**Keywords:** authenticity, expression, life, poetry
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**2. On women’s voices**
“I wanted a poem I could grow old in. I wanted a poem I could die in.”
(*From the poem* *The Pomegranate*, published in *Outside History*, 1990)
*Reflection:* Boland longed for poetry that carried the truth of women’s lives, from youth to old age. She sought an art form that embraced all stages of existence, not just heroic or mythical moments.
**Keywords:** truth, mortality, voice, legacy
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**3. On silenced histories**
“Women are outside of history, in the sense that the kind of history they experienced was not history to the culture.”
(*From an interview in* *The Paris Review*, 2001)
*Reflection:* Boland challenged the traditional exclusion of women from the historical record, arguing that domestic, intimate, and “ordinary” lives hold historical weight.
**Keywords:** history, voice, inclusion, perspective
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**4. On identity and creation**
“I was trying to find a voice for the life I lived. I wasn’t trying to be original. I was trying to be true.”
(*From* *Object Lessons*, 1995)
*Reflection:* For Boland, originality was secondary to truth. Her mission was to carve space for her lived experience — as a woman, mother, and poet — within the Irish poetic tradition.
**Keywords:** truth, authenticity, identity, courage
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Would you like me to prepare these in the **same “Day of …” format** you use for your project (with date, hashtags, reflection), so they fit smoothly into your upcoming book edits?