Gorta

Publication Instance Details #113

Publication Overview

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

Details

Human Rights Issues	HR & Natural Disasters Poverty/Deprivation/Lack of Sustenance
Irish Context	Great Famine (Ireland) Emigration (from Ireland)
Languages	Irish
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	The speaker of this poem personifies the Ethiopian famine (1984-86), as a malevolent presence, walking through lands and leaving devastation in its wake. The images in the poem are similar to the images included in TV coverage of the famine at that time: this spectre has an emaciated face, a distended stomach, and is surrounded by swarms of flies. The speaker is reminded of the coffin ships and consumption of nettles that became hallmarks of the Great Famine in mid-nineteenth century Ireland.