(9) ‘Nollaig lámhdhéanta againn’ 

Publication Instance Details #205

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 HR & Weapons of Mass Destruction (incl. nuclear)
War / Genocide Referenced	War: Second World War
Irish Context	WW II (Ireland)
Languages	Irish
Genre	Part Of Lyric Sequence
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	This poem is part of the lyric sequence, 'Seabhac ag Guairdeall', in which the poet describes aspects of his childhood, viewed through the lens of Irish neutrality during World War II. In this ninth section of the lyric sequence, the speaker describes aspects of their handmade Christmas - with wooden painted toys, the monk reading Mass, nuns with candles, and the female choir singing 'Silent Night'. The war is finally over, and everyone is grateful. The scenes of a happy Christmas are juxtaposed with the aftermath of the bombing of Nagasaki. A verse of the poem describes the children who rose again from the clay, praying in the ash of the dead in the ruins of Nagasaki Cathedral, which was destroyed in the nuclear bombing of the city. The poem contains disturbing imagery of death and birth, likely as a way to highlight the difference in the speaker's peaceful Christmas, and the suffering of those in Nagasaki.