Poem
An Mhurúch ina hAthbhreith
| Title | An Mhurúch ina hAthbhreith |
|---|---|
| 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 |
Publication Instance Details #862
Collection/Anthology Details
| Collection/Anthology | The Fifty Minute Mermaid |
|---|---|
| Date of Publication | 2007 |
| Publisher | The Gallery Press (Ireland) |
| Page Number(s) | 120 |
Publication Overview
| Translation | Is Multilingual | Explicit Irish Context? | Ekphrasis | Has Paratext? | Reference to News, Media or Technology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No |
Yes |
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 the poem describes the mermaid's 'rebirth', from a bland and small existence reminiscent of being one of the dead. Suddenly the becomes large and powerful, with the feeling of pins and needles in her body, and a 'muscle-memory' that is unnatural and surreal. This may refer to the mermaid's 'true self' underwater, since it is described by the speaker as a basic primal memory of some kind. The Great Famine and Irish cultural loss is understood to be implicit in this sequence of poems. |
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