The Midnight Court/Cuirt an Mhean Oiche - Couverture souple

Merriman, Brian

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1856352803 ISBN 13 : 9781856352802

Editeur : The Mercier Press, 1999

Synopsis

The Midnight Court/Cúirt an Mheán-Oíche is a racy, word-rich bawdy poem that has earned it enduring popularity since it was first written by Clare poet Brian Merriman around 1780. It is regarded as one of the finest pieces of comic literature in Irish and until recently was censored or bowdlerised in academic texts for its frank sexual references and anti-clericalism. The poet-narrator, who is a bachelor, is summoned in a dream to the court of Queen Aoibheall to account for his being unmarried when so many women are longing for love. The women who accompany her, and who espouse the values of sensuality and fertility, give long entertaining diatribes on celibacy and loveless (sexless) marriages. The narrator wakes as he is being severely chastised by the women. The poem gives an excellent picture of rural Ireland in the late eighteenth century, and its feminism and enunciation of celibacy, including that of the clergy, make it seem contemporary. Patrick C. Power's translation endeavours to come as near as possible to the rural attitudes and style that are so much part and parcel of the flavour of the original.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Brian Merriman was born in Ennistimon County Clare around the year 1745. He taught school in Feakle and later in Limerick and when he died suddenly in 1805 his death notice referred to him as a teacher of mathematics. He is now known mainly as the author of Cúirt an Mheán-Oíche, as very few of his other poems are known. Patrick C. Power, now retired, was a primary-school headmaster in Ballyneale near Carrick-on-Suir County Tipperary. A Gaelic scholar of note, he holds a PhD from University College Galway and is the author of many books including A Literary History of Ireland and The Story of Anglo-Irish Poetry 1800-1922.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: The Mercier Press
• Date d'édition: 1999
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1856352803
• ISBN 13: 9781856352802
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 96
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible