Poem

Dúchas Arís

Title Dúchas Arís
Author Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill

Instances of Publication

A published appearance of this poem.

Collection/Anthology Year of Publication Medium View Details
Cead Aighnis 1998 Print Collection View Details
Feis agus Cead Aighnis 2015 Print Collection View Details
The Fifty Minute Mermaid 2007 Print Collection View Details

Translations

Connected translations of this poem.

Title Author Collection/Anthology Year View Details
The Death and Rebirth of the Mermaid Paul Muldoon The Fifty Minute Mermaid 2007 View Details
Publication Instance Details #747
Collection/Anthology Details
Collection/Anthology Feis agus Cead Aighnis
Date of Publication 2015
Publisher Cló Iar-Chonnachta (Ireland)
Page Number(s) 340-341
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
Irish Context
Languages
Genre Part Of Lyric Sequence
Medium Print Collection
Notes This sequence of poems, 'Na Murúcha a Thriomnaigh', makes use of the international folk tale of the mermaid to construct an allegorical world in which the merpeople have left the water and now live uneasily among humankind on earth. The speaker of this poem describes a supernatural kidnapping attempt by a merman, who enchants a girl's apron and attempts to carry her off. This is reminiscent of the usual 'fairy abduction' tales in Irish and European folklore. The speaker connects this event to the power of 'heredity', possibly implying that the merman had no choice but to act in this manner. The Great Famine and Irish cultural loss is understood to be implicit in this sequence of poems.
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