Eavan Boland is an Irish poet and author born in Dublin, Ireland in 1944, who focuses much of her work on the national identity of the Irish people, on the of Irish women throughout its history, as well as the rich and, at times tragic, history and culture of Ireland as a country itself, particularly as it relates to the impact of the Irish Potato Famine, or "The Great Famine" between 1845 and 1852, it had on Irish society. Currently, Eavan Boland is a professor at Stanford University. In the poem "The Achill Woman" written by Eavan Boland, the speaker (strongly referred to as Eavan Boland herself, thus making the poem quite autobiographical) recounts her experiences on Achill Island off the coast of Ireland and more specifically her meeting with a woman who lives there. Throughout the poem, the narrator describes the woman's simple lifestyle as opposed to his own lifestyle, being an educated college student. After this reflection, the slight cultural clash between the two Irish generations is highlighted through the different interests they pursue during the day and their general mentality towards life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, their interests in everyday pastimes differ completely in origin and purpose. For example, the Achill woman spends her time climbing “up the hill carrying water” (1) in her woolen clothes, or being productive with the “harmonies of servants” (30). These daily rituals and chores consist of her basic needs, and by keeping busy she remains content with this daily routine as well; especially considering the fact that he actually lived through the famine that claimed many lives in Ireland during his youth. Overall, the Achill woman is happy and more than satisfied with her simplistic lifestyle. Alternatively, the narrator spends her time as a normal college student would, "weekends at a friend's cottage" (16) and reading her books by a fire all through the cold night. Preferring to stay at home with a good book, the narrator initially misunderstands and takes the Achill woman's hard work for granted in this way. This typical program of young adults and college students also causes a culture clash between the two women simply due to the fact that they share different lifestyles, interests and hobbies that are stereotypical for their age and generation. Afterwards, both women maintain their own sets of attitudes. values, opinions and perspectives that arise from their personal experiences and lifestyles, even causing a slight disconnect between the two of them. For example, when the woman Achill converses with the narrator, “the evening went cold without warning” (20) as it usually seems after a person reveals tragic or sad news. If one were to assume that the conversation was about detailed accounts and information disseminated about the terrible famine that struck Ireland, then the Achill woman has endured many hardships throughout her life, tragedies that the narrator will most likely never experience due to her youth. The Achill woman represents a generation that has survived difficult times, in stark contrast to that of the young narrator. However, the absence of catastrophes in the narrator's life has its advantages. She was "all talk, raw from college" (15) and therefore educated as a young woman with no real negative experiences or traumatic events to speak of in her adult life. Since it can be assumed that this conversation is the first time he has listened.