I gCuimhne 75,000 Éireannach

Publication Instance Details #488

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	War
War / Genocide Referenced	War: First World War
Irish Context	WW I (Ireland)
Languages	Irish
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	The poem's title is written in memory of 75,000 Irishmen. Previous publications of the poem were in memory of only 45,000 Irishmen. The poet perhaps increased the numbers to account for further conflicts, such as World War II, although the poem itself only deals with World War I. The speaker of the poem appears to be a young Irish soldier in the trenches. He describes various aspects of the horrors of war, including mustard gas, the trenches, machine guns, shelling, and bayonets. The speaker, in the midst of all this horror, appears aware of the folly of the war, remarking that Justitia, the Roman goddess of righteousness and justice, is a 'blind bitch'. The morning after the fighting, he abandons his post and flees, leaving the body of his officer behind him, which he states will be suitable for the Easter fires and revival - likely a reference to the resurrection of Christ. The speaker aims to stay in Europe, lost but alive, like a rat.