Significance of Titles

When analyzing a poem, it's easy to jump straight to the text. The title, however, is important--the author has chosen a specific word or phrase to set off the rest of the poem. McGuckian uses brief, simple titles that indicate much more about the poem. Here's a good example:

Artemisia

For six months, one jasmine
Has perfumed my bed--in the morning
It is like the scent of friends, the society
Of roses! Yet I'm learning
How heart odours cling to any wrist
That has lingered over violets
Or immersed itself in musk four-fingers
Long, and spared no alcove
Of the body from its ample mist or rain.
When I accuse myself again of lacking
Water, or that subtle Greek custom
Of disfavoring my older, chosen sachet,
Wearing peachwood, or fenugreek, the artemisia
Offers me the formula of a flower still on stem,
Cupped to the last adulterous perfection.

What is "artemisia"?

The short answer is that it's a fern-like plant, with many herb varieties.

At first, we might think that the choice of "artemisia" as the title is no more than just choosing one of the plants mentioned in the poem. McGuckian has subtle references to it throughout the entire poem, though. She uses it as a framework for developing the other images--it ties together seemingly unrelated images into the larger picture of her intention.

In Russian culture, Artemisia species are commonly used in medicine. The bitter taste is seen as a symbol for the "bitter truth" that must be accepted by a deluded person. The final few lines, ending in "cupped to the last adulterous perfection," indicate that the artemisia provides the speaker with the ability to realize the deception (adultery).

Also, the reference to "greek." In Hellenistic culture, the goddess Artemis was associated with the herb "artemisia" and was the goddess of the hunt as well as the protector of the forest and children. The poem contains a lot of natural images--jasmine, roses, violets, musk, mist, rain, flower, peachwood, fenugreek. These natural images are not as perfect or unique as they appear: "heart odours cling to any wrist / that has lingered over violets." In fact, the "sweet" flowers are just a means of deception, a pleasant smell to cover the stench beneath.