The Death of Metaphor is a selection of essays, radio talks, lectures and introductions written by Irish poet Desmond Egan, whose writing is lively and stimulating. In part one he deals with such subjects as The state of poetry today; Politics and writing; Translation; and with writers as disparate as T.S. Eliot, Yannis Ritsos, Patrick Kavanagh, Goldsmith, Auden, Emily Dickinson. In the second part of the book he ranges even more widely, displaying an extraordinary breadth of interest and of approach: meeting Samuel Beckett; the influence of religion; Roderic O'Conor the painter; the sculpture of James McKenna; the Greek achievement and influence. His "hobbyhorses," a series of short pungent meditations on many contemporary topics is one of the highlights of an important selection of prose by a poet described by Carroll Terrell, president of the National Poetry Foundation of USA as "one of Ireland's very finest writers." - Back cover.