In Memoriam. Thomas Kinsella (1928-2021). Dublin, Turin, Philadelphia

Abstract

In remembering Thomas Kinsella in this obituary, the author has dwelt on a little-publicized event of the poet’s life, the granting of an honorary degree by the Turin University on 9 May 2006. The occasion is seen as a belated homage to a poet who had not always received his due in the past and as a harbinger of the full recognition that was to be granted to him in the succeeding years. By analysing his Acceptance Speech, the poem he read at the ceremony and the informal conversations that took place at the time, the author identifies some important concerns that would emerge in Kinsella’s Late Poems that dwell on ageing, taking stock of one’s life, understanding and belief.