Abstract

Analysis of poems that Muldoon sets in restaurants, from the early 'Paris' and 'Holy Thursday', through several poems in 'Meeting the British', to 'The Bangle (Slight Return)' in 'The Annals of Chile'. In each case, I emphasize that Muldoon is a poet of troubled male / female relationships, and that his focus is on the tension between his allegiance to the serendipitous and irresponsible processes of poetry, and the moral demands imposed by relationships.