Gáire Sheáin Dóite

Publication Instance Details #2021

Publication Overview

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

Details

Human Rights Issues	HR & Environment Death Penalty/Unlawful Detention/Incarceration
Languages	Irish
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	The speaker of the poem thinks about zoos and their function in society. This poem takes a poor view zoos and their imprisoning of animals, with the speaker espousing the idea that they were invented because humans felt bad that people themselves had been imprisoned in asylums, hospitals and prisons, and so therefore the same had to be done to animals - or either humans want to be close to animals, a pure reflection of nature, who are without sin - implying that humanity itself is sinful. The title refers to a phrase meaning a 'wry laugh', highlighting the irony of the poem.