Paula Meehan

Here at the heart of winter here at the heart of the city

stanza 1, rep. meehan describes the christmas tree as the heart of winter

grant us the clarity of ice, the comfort of snow

top of stanza 2. the use of the word grant us give a prayer like feel to the line

grant us the forest's silence the snows breathless quiet

end of stanza 2. the silence of the forest

The scream, the siren, the knock on the door the needle in its track the knife in the back

stanza 3. violence and noise replaces the quiet of the previous two stanzas

5

5

the echo of their voices through the city streets The streets that defeated them That brought them to their knees

stanza 5. idea of echoey streets that promised great things for people but defeated them eventually

that promised them everything. That delivered nothing

stanza 5 dreams that offered escape but only delivered ruin

the streets we brought them home to

last line stanza 5. families carrying their loved ones home

let their names be the wind through the branches

stanza 6. prayerful chanting tone. memory eternalised in nature. the people are gven dignity and death

spare me sixpence

meehans mother gives her money at the start to buy winkles

hurry up now and dont be talking to strange men

mother is concerned and caring about meehans safety

ghosts on the stairs where the bulb had blown

threat of environment and 3rd quote in stanzxa one

all relief

the feeling meehan gets once she gets to gardiner street

like little night skies themselves

simile: natural joy in the winkles

jump every crack in the pavement

idea of childhood innocence and playfulness

id wave up to women at sills or those lingering in doorways

gender innequality and roile of women in the peom

men heading out for the night

clear contrast of men and women at night time

smell of men together with drink

paulas clear disgust for the men in the poem as they drink

id see liiight in golden mirrors. i envied each soul in the hot interior

meehan is out in the cold while the men are inside drinking

id ask her again to show me the right way to do it

meehan is told how to do soe shit with the winkles passed down from trad

The sweetest extra winkle that brought the sea to me

near bottom of poem. metaphor. child doesnt experience nature as much in the city

proudly home like torches

simile. bright joy in darkness last line

It can be bitter here at times like this, November wind

first line cold november

The whole town tucked up safe and dreaming

wjhile yer one is alone the town is alright 1st stanza

I stuck up here in this grotto

stanza one the statue is alone at the grotto (fortnite ref???)

The howling wont let up. Trees cavort in agony

stanza 2 the wind is aking osunds in the trees

where men hunt eachother and invoke the various names of god as blessing on their death tactics

stanza 2 men hunt eachother

I hear fish drowning

stanza 2 fish

They call me Mary - Blessed, Holy, Virgin

stanza 3 the titles unwillingly given to the statue

though mated to no mortal man

stanza 3 the staue wasnt impregnanted by a man

their prayers fly up like sparks from a bonfire that blaze a moment then wink out 

end of stanza 3, simile, talks about prayers and a fire. cynical: dont reach god

2

2

when the earth herself calls out for coupling and i would break loose of my stony robes

meehan personifies the earth and mentions how sex is natural

my being cries out to be incarnate

the statue wishes to be human

death is just another harvest scripted to the seasons play

the seasons are exam ined to show that everything has a place in nature

no respite from the keening of the wind

painof the death of the woman is mimicked in nature

in exaltation with the gale

amazed by the wind

4

4

1

1

and she pushed her little secret out into the night

the young girl gives birth to the child alone and in secrte

I did not move, I did not lift a finger to help her, i didnt intercede with heaven 

the statue cant do anything to help the girl but can only watch 

O sun, centre of our foolish dance

the statue turns o the sun for guidance

hear me and have pity

final line TSOTVAGS

was in 1963 when Miss Shannon rapping the duster on the easels peg

first line of the poem, year and teacher

mark my words, you’ll end up in the sewing factory

2nd stanza the teacher tells the girls what will happen to them

those words ‘end up’ robbed the labour of its dignity

meehan is frustrated by the teachers use of some wods

3

3

the teacher was right, and no one knows it like i do myself

later in life, meehan realises that the teacher was correct, education leads t ,more opportunites

trussed like chickens on a conveyor belt

chimken

leave you naked your lovely shiny feathers all gone

final lines somethig about feathers

money to burn, burning a hole in your pocket

quote from start of poem; saying

I am crouched by the fire in the flat in Sean MacDermott Street while Zeus and Hera battle it out

top of stanza 2, where meehan is hiding while her parents are arguing

She'll see his fancyman and raise him Cosmo Snooker Hall

Meehan uses metaphor to describe the parents talking about the dads gambling problem

he'll raise her airs or graces or the mental state of her siblings

the father retaliates to the mothers insults by accusing her f adultery bottom of tsnaza 3

I'm net, umpire and court; most balls are lobbed over my head. Even then

top of stanza 4. meehan feels like the umpire of a tennis game

the particular hell of the unsaid

stanza 4, meehan points out how the silence in between insults is worse than the fighting itself

even then I cant tell it was money, the lack of it day after day

stanza 5, meehan knows and is aware of her family's financial situation

The flames were blue and pink and green, a marvellous sight

stanza 7, meehan is amazed by the colours of the fire

'its not enough' she stated simply

stanza 7, meehans mother justfies why she threw the money into the fire, and made her point

The flames sheered from cinder to chimney breast like trapped exotic birds

last stanza, meehan personifies the flames nd compares them to birds