Brian Merriman – författare

Banned and beloved in equal measure, The Midnight Court is a canonical eighteenth–century text widely considered to be one of the greatest comic Irish poems. Despite its simple story line, Merriman’s poem addresses a wide range of themes from its satirical treatment of sexuality to its biting social commentary. This volume, the first critical edition, offers readers a fluid translation and five essays that contextualize the poem, making it an ideal text for any student of eighteenth–century Irish literature. Written specifically for the nonspecialist reader, Ó Conchubhair’s edition contains notes, a glossary, a map, and explanations of the rhyme, meter, form, and genre that traditionally puzzle those unfamiliar with the Irishlanguage tradition. The essays explore the text’s themes and allusions, acquainting readers with the poem’s controversies and critics’ competing interpretations of Merriman’s achievement.

Banned and beloved in equal measure, The Midnight Court is a canonical eighteenth-century text widely considered to be one of the greatest comic Irish poems. Despite its simple storyline, Merriman’s poem addresses a wide range of themes from its satirical treatment of sexuality to its biting social commentary. This volume, the first critical edition, offers readers a fluid translation and five essays that contextualize the poem, making it an ideal text for any student of the poem and eighteenth-century Irish literature.

Award-winning edition of this outstanding translation of Brian Merriman's eighteenth-century erotic masterpiece.Translated by Frank O'ConnorIllustrations by Brian Bourke.

A bawdy and boisterous poem of Ireland, translated by one of its most distinguished literary sonsAs a teacher and translator of Irish verse, Frank O’Connor brought to the world’s attention many fine poems from his native land, few as enduring—and none as controversial—as Brian Merriman’s The Midnight Court.An eighteenth-century masterpiece widely recognized as the greatest comic poem in Irish literature, The Midnight Court is a hilarious and insightful take on the battle of the sexes. In the court of a fairy queen, the men and women of Ireland air their grievances with one another. The competing lists of complaints are as long as they are uproarious, and when the queen rules in favor of the women, all young Irish bachelors are doomed to a terrible fate: marriage.The Midnight Court has now taken its rightful place in the Irish literary canon, but when O’Connor’s English translation was first published in 1945, the Irish government banned it as obscene. In a delicious irony that might have been lifted from one of O’Connor’s short stories, the Gaelic original met with no censure. Here, as it first appeared, is Frank O’Connor’s faithful, funny, and eloquent translation of one of the most important works in Irish literature.

The author explores Brian Merriman's famous poem, The Midnight Court, a classic of Irish literature.