Poem

An Mhaighdean Mhara

Title An Mhaighdean Mhara
Author Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill

Instances of Publication

A published appearance of this poem.

Collection/Anthology Year of Publication Medium View Details
Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill: Selected Poems/Rogha Dánta 1988 Print Collection View Details
An Dealg Droighin 1981 Print Collection View Details
An Dealg sa bhFéar: Dánta 1968-1984 2011 Print Collection View Details
Northern Lights 2018 Print Collection View Details
Leabhar na hAthghabhála: Poems of Repossession 2016 Print Anthology View Details

Translations

Connected translations of this poem.

Title Author Collection/Anthology Year View Details
Wrecking the House Paul Muldoon The Fifty Minute Mermaid 2007 View Details
The Born-again Mermaid Paul Muldoon The Fifty Minute Mermaid 2007 View Details
Against Indifference Peter Sirr Seán Ó Ríordáin: Selected Poems 2013 View Details
Publication Instance Details #821
Collection/Anthology Details
Collection/Anthology Northern Lights
Date of Publication 2018
Publisher The Gallery Press (Ireland)
Page Number(s) 30, 32
Publication Overview
Translation Is Multilingual Explicit Irish Context? Ekphrasis Has Paratext? Reference to News, Media or Technology
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
Details
Human Rights Issues
Languages
Genre Short Lyric
Medium Print Collection
Notes This poem is based on an Irish version of the international folktale of the mermaid/selkie whose coat/cloak/comb is stolen and who must live with a human man. Here, the mermaid speaks of her painful journey to become accustom to life on land, the threat of physical violence or torture from those who wish to make her speak and who remind her of the Gestapo. Themes of displacement and culture shock are central to this poem. See also Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill's later mermaid sequence titled 'Na Murúcha a Thriomaigh', translated by Paul Muldoon in the volume 'The Fifty Minute Mermaid' (Gallery Press, 2007).
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