Mo Mháthair

Publication Instance Details #1678

Publication Overview

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

Details

Human Rights Issues	Genocide
War / Genocide Referenced	Genocide: Holocaust
Languages	Irish
Original Language	German
Original Poem	Espenbaum
Original Author	Paul Antschel
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	This is a translation of Celan's poem 'Espenbaum', which was originally titled 'Mutter'. Interestingly, it is from the original title that Bushe translates the title here, not the more accepted title of 'Espenbaum'. Both of Celan's parents were murdered during the Holocaust - his mother having been shot after becoming exhausted at a forced labour camp. In this poem, the speaker addresses different aspects of the world (the aspen tree, a star, a raincloud, an oaken door), asking them questions and then describing his mothers fate in relation to an attribute of the thing addressed. For instance, the aspen tree's leaves are described as white, while the speaker acknowledges that his own mother's hair will never turn white, as she perished.