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subversive_augury's review against another edition
5.0
This review is for the Ciaran Carson translation.
amandasbookclub's review against another edition
5.0
“How dare this old dirt-bird discuss womenkind,
When a proof of his manhood no woman can find!”
This is a gem of a poem, and a fantastic translation. If you haven’t read it, you won’t regret picking it up.
When a proof of his manhood no woman can find!”
This is a gem of a poem, and a fantastic translation. If you haven’t read it, you won’t regret picking it up.
jaironside's review
5.0
This pretty much strained my command of written Irish to breaking point since I read the original version first, and then checked it against one of the better translations - I'd definitely missed some of the more elliptical colloquialisms. That said it's worth reading in Irish because there is a sense of humour, mindset and turn of phrase that loses a lot of it's nuance and ribald poetry in translation.
It's a loooong poem. Not Paradise Lost long but still at 1000 lines long enough. presented as an 'Aisling' or vision poem. I think it might gain something in seeining it performed. Traditionally the poem is divided into three or sometimes five parts. I imagine the humour is even more accessible when performed.
The plot is the Aoibheal, a Sidhe queen, is asked to aritrate over a dispute between the women and the men of the village. A young woman accuses the men of ruining the women's chances of fulfillment and happiness by refusing to marry. An old man answers angrily that the state of depravity and greed of women is the reason. The young woman then spends 200 lines delivering the most scathing opinion of tge man imaginable.
On the surface it sounds ordinary fair, possibly a bit dated and sexist now. In actuality it's depiction of the incompatibilities of male and female sexuality is pretty close to the mark, not to mention the knuckle. I'm inclined to applaud Merriman for noticing there was such a thing as female sexuality when it was being stringently repressed and oppressed at the time of writing. Ultimately it's not a flattering portrait of either sex and is by turns grotesque, crude, humourous and scathing. It does capture a particular Irish tone in it's delivery and it's portrayal of both conversation/ disagreement and forthright if twisted logic. Definitely worth a read, although if you don't read Irish go for one of the decent translations. Some translations try too hard to convey the assonance and meter and rhyme scheme in English and kill the nuance.
It's a loooong poem. Not Paradise Lost long but still at 1000 lines long enough. presented as an 'Aisling' or vision poem. I think it might gain something in seeining it performed. Traditionally the poem is divided into three or sometimes five parts. I imagine the humour is even more accessible when performed.
The plot is the Aoibheal, a Sidhe queen, is asked to aritrate over a dispute between the women and the men of the village. A young woman accuses the men of ruining the women's chances of fulfillment and happiness by refusing to marry. An old man answers angrily that the state of depravity and greed of women is the reason. The young woman then spends 200 lines delivering the most scathing opinion of tge man imaginable.
On the surface it sounds ordinary fair, possibly a bit dated and sexist now. In actuality it's depiction of the incompatibilities of male and female sexuality is pretty close to the mark, not to mention the knuckle. I'm inclined to applaud Merriman for noticing there was such a thing as female sexuality when it was being stringently repressed and oppressed at the time of writing. Ultimately it's not a flattering portrait of either sex and is by turns grotesque, crude, humourous and scathing. It does capture a particular Irish tone in it's delivery and it's portrayal of both conversation/ disagreement and forthright if twisted logic. Definitely worth a read, although if you don't read Irish go for one of the decent translations. Some translations try too hard to convey the assonance and meter and rhyme scheme in English and kill the nuance.
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