THE LAST DREAMERS

This collection, which incorporates 25 new poems plus selections from six of Daly’s previous works, may be read as a narrative of a life fully lived by an Augustinian priest with close ties to his native Ireland and to Italy. Daly’s poetry is that of one who has felt and suffered much (especially the death of a woman he loved before he joined the order). His poems reflect this and other losses, denial, anger, and ultimately, acceptance and joy, through simply drawn metaphors and images, such as these from an early poem: “The world is a great sea / And he, the boat of varnished pine / That slips into the water at noon.” At times the poems rely so heavily on statement that poetry is sacrificed, but scattered throughout this extensive collection are such gems as “Genesis”: “The glow of decay had never entered the garden, / he made a bouquet of red leaves for her, / More to his heart than all the garden flowers.” Poems toward the end of the collection speak of frustration with Church life (“Housekeeper”) and fears of a loss of faith (“Comfort” and “Ministry”).

These poems—part-prayer, part-meditation—offer a view of life as seen through the eyes of a poet whose being is now dedicated to a God he does not always understand but tries to serve.