Poem
Wrecking the House
| Title | Wrecking the House |
|---|---|
| Author | Paul Muldoon |
Instances of Publication
A published appearance of this poem.
| Collection/Anthology | Year of Publication | Medium | View Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fifty Minute Mermaid | 2007 | Print Collection | View Details |
Publication Instance Details #796
Collection/Anthology Details
| Collection/Anthology | The Fifty Minute Mermaid |
|---|---|
| Date of Publication | 2007 |
| Publisher | The Gallery Press (Ireland) |
| Page Number(s) | 119 |
Publication Overview
| Translation | Is Multilingual | Explicit Irish Context? | Ekphrasis | Has Paratext? | Reference to News, Media or Technology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Details
| Human Rights Issues | |
|---|---|
| Irish Context | |
| Languages | |
| Original Language | |
| Original Poem | |
| Original Author | |
| 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 an unusual event in which the mermaid seems to lose her temper and have some kind of violent breakdown, during which she 'wrecks the house'. She is set off by an inane comment about a local alcoholic. The speaker tries to get to the bottom of the mystery years later but is unsuccessful. The Great Famine and Irish cultural loss is understood to be implicit in this sequence of poems. |
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