Mass of the Dead

Publication Instance Details #1220

Publication Overview

Translation	Is Multilingual	Explicit Irish Context?	Ekphrasis	Has Paratext?	Reference to News, Media or Technology
Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No

Details

Human Rights Issues	HR & Weapons of Mass Destruction (incl. nuclear) War
War / Genocide Referenced	War: Second World War
Languages	English
Original Language	Irish
Original Poem	Aifreann na Marbh
Original Author	Eoghan Ó Tuairisc
Genre	Part Of Lyric Sequence
Medium	Print Anthology
Notes	This is a translation of only the final section of 'Aifreann na Marbh', 'Requiem'. In this section of the poem, the poet-speaker reflects upon the role of poetry in understanding and responding to 'the tragedy of the children of Hiroshima'. Poetry here is viewed as part of religious, spiritual process - note how 'Word' is capitalized. The effort of writing the poem itself is expressed almost in terms of physical labour, or the labour of childbirth, with the poet-speaker lying exhausted at his efforts at the conclusion of the poem, while the poetry returns to complete a 'full circle of its course'.