The Soldier You Were

Publication Instance Details #2157

Publication Overview

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

Details

Human Rights Issues	War Poverty/Deprivation/Lack of Sustenance HR Activism/Humanitarian Work
Irish Context	HR-related International Involvement (Ireland)
Languages	English
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Paratext Text	Rifleman Shay Singleton, UN Checkpoint 6-38 Alpha, Haddathah Village, Irish Area of Operations, winter 1988
Notes	This poem contains references to Classical mythology and ancient Greek battles as way of expressing the life of the soldier through time and antiquity. The poem commemorates the efforts of Shay Singleton, an Irish peacekeeping soldier whom the poet-speaker views as having been particularly caring and kind to Lebanese locals, buying a boy shoes, giving them money, and buying hand-grenades from young schoolboys to prevent their use. The speaker views the actions of this kind soldier to be as important to antiquity as the fallen heroes and soldiers of Greek history.