Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin Poetry Mindmap

Street
1. Text
  1. Short
    1. three stanzas
    2. leaves the reader with questions
    3. base of narrative is simple, however the message and details are enigmatic
  2. Lyrical
    1. Third person
      1. reminiscent of a myth or folk-tale
        "the butcher's daughter" lends itself to folk-style story telling
        trail of blood (fairy tale-esque)
2. Tone
  1. Dream-like
    1. like a nightmare
      1. suspenseful
      2. vague
      3. never mentions the word "blood"
  2. Tense
    1. Enjambment and run on sentences
      1. sense of urgency
      2. intrigued, immersed and seduced
        following her
  3. Utilises contrasts
    1. "Dangling" knife
      1. Playful/deadly
    2. Duality of the butcher
      1. Suffering for animal/sustenance for the townspeople
    3. Female Butcher
      1. Femininity/power & slaughter
    4. White trousers
      1. Innocence & purity / livelihood is killing
The Bend In The Road
1. Text
  1. three stanzas
  2. Begins in third person
    1. progresses to plural first person
      1. personal poem
  3. symbolism
    1. nature waits for the family
      1. "nothing moved"
    2. the spot where the child was sick becomes important in the poet's understanding of the impermanence of life
      1. plants are slowly, inexorably growing and moving.
      2. becomes a repository of family memories
    3. air
      1. cumulus cloud
2. Tone
  1. mystery
  2. consoling
  3. nostalgia
The Second Voyage
1. humour
  1. odysseus
    1. epic, conversing with oar
      1. personification
    2. arrogant
    3. comedic fig
2. confined landscape/boundless sea
  1. challenge/freedom
    1. odysseus cannot abandon
3. transition
  1. change
    1. obstacles
      1. journey
        odyssey
4. rich, sensuous imagery
Fireman's Lift
1. dying mother
  1. lifted by angels
    1. passed to safety
2. powerless/powerful
  1. connects virgin mary to mother
3. vivid imagery of fresco
  1. connects visual art to spirituality
4. heavy symbolism use
Translation
1. symbols
  1. complex
    1. keys
      1. who has 'em?
2. atmosphere
  1. in the laundry
    1. deep detailed imagery
      1. harshness
        grinding
        rotten teeth
        skull blared
        sharp as an infant's cry
        steam giggled and danced, not the women
    2. alliteration - energy
      1. blinded and bleached
      2. glance.. giggled
      3. danced..drains
    3. lines become fragmented in third stanza
      1. reflects fragmented lives
To Niall Woods and Xenya Ostrovskaia, married in Dublin on September 2009
1. conversational in style
  1. deceptively simple
    1. many layers
2. awe wonder
3. fairytales
  1. The poet refers to a fairy tale in which three sons are given the choice of setting out on a journey with a full loaf of bread and his mother’s curse, or half a loaf and her blessing. The youngest son chooses the half loaf and the blessing, and his journey ends in the traditional ‘happy ever after’ ending
  2. links cultures
    1. The story of ‘the firebird that stole the golden apples’ is a Russian tale in which a tsar promises wealth and marriage to his daughter to anyone who can stop the firebird from stealing the apples from his orchard. After a difficult and dangerous mission, a young man called Ivan succeeds and gets his reward. The Irish story of the King of Ireland’s son has a slightly different message in that the young man first wins but then loses a beautiful young woman, Fedelma. The message here might be that the couple must be attentive to one another and not take their love for granted.
      1. love is wonderful, not easy to win
  3. The final line of the poem reinforces the joyful blessing
    1. happily ever after

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Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin Poetry Mindmap

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	Created by Abigail Shannon about 7 years ago