The Stranger

Publication Instance Details #1717

Publication Overview

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

Details

Human Rights Issues	War Gender-based violence
Irish Context	Specific Irish place or place-name mentioned
Languages	English
Original Language	Irish
Original Poem	An tEachtrannach
Original Author	Dairena Ní Chinnéide
Genre	Lyric Sequence
Medium	Print Collection
Paratext Text	The children are playing on the beach near Ballyferriter. Patrick and Stephen have brought their toys along. Susan and Paula fill their buckets with wet sand and turn them upside down to make a big sandcastle. Stephen's soldiers will defend it. 'Come here. We will show it to you', he says. Patrick allows the soldier to march on the castle. 'You have no chance'. 'Give up', Patrick shouts. He walks all about. A tower of sand collapses and the castle is captures. The girls give up the game and go collecting shells. The boys see the bats lying on the beach. They use them as swords and begin to attack each other. The soldiers are left behind as they are now forgotten by the boys. Patrick and Susan run into the dune. 'He wants to destroy the beautiful flower!' Susan calls out. 'Stop, stop!' Patrick screams at the soldier. 'Don't shoot. I have heard of this flower. It should be left here to be our friend, and it wouldn't be such a stranger anymore.' The sun breaks through the clouds above Ballyferriter and dances around the beautiful flower. 'Yes, let me be your friend,' the flower says. The children gather up their toys and go home very happy.
Notes	Long poem, broken into different sections. The scene is located in Ballyferriter, County Kerry, based on what is said in the paratextual material, and the premise is of toy soldiers being played with by two boys. The poem is an allegory for human nature, and humanity's own relations with nature. The 'humans' in the poem are based on toy soldiers, left behind on a beach by the children present. The 'soldier' encounters a flower, which seems to represent nature and the world. The soldier laments his own bad nature, the war, violence, and rape, that he has perpetrated. The 'flower' appears to talk back to him, and encourage him to be more peaceful and kind. There is a reference to the salmon of knowledge, close to the end of the poem, as well. The poem is beautifully illustrated with images by the artist Dominique Lieb, and makes the themes of the poem more stark.