Ar Ghéaga na gCrann Sailí

Publication Instance Details #217

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	War
War / Genocide Referenced	War: Second World War
Languages	Irish
Original Language	Italian
Original Poem	Alle Fronde Dei Salici
Original Author	Salvatore Quasimodo
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	This poem was originally published in 1946, and was written after the Nazi occupation of Milan, after the Italian armistice with the Anglo-American troops during World War II. In this poem, the speaker describes some of the sights of the Nazi occupation: the dead scattered around the square; the children crying; the mother screaming when she sees her son crucified on a telegraph pole. This is a clear reference to Mary, as Jesus was crucified, and the poem itself references Psalm 137, in which the Jews refused to sing or play in praise of God after the fall of Jerusalem: 'There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”' In this poem, this is reflected by the Italian people hanging up their lyres on the fronds of the willow tree. Since the lyre is also a symbol of poetry, it may refer to the failure of poetry to meaningfully stand against the tyranny of the Nazis.