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    Street-Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin

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    iffinichonchubhair
    The poem "Street" tells the story of a man who falls in love at first sight with the "butcher's daughter", a mysterious young woman who works in a butcher shop. She intrigues the man with her combination of beauty and the blood on her clothing from her work. One day, he follows her down a lane to the back of the butcher shop, catching a glimpse of her bloody footprints disappearing up the stairs, reinforcing her separation from the world of the man who loves her. The poem uses contrasting imagery of white, beauty, and blood to create an atmosphere of mystery and danger surrounding the unattainable butcher's daughter.

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    Street-Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin

    Uploaded by

    iffinichonchubhair
    316 views2 pages
    The poem "Street" tells the story of a man who falls in love at first sight with the "butcher's daughter", a mysterious young woman who works in a butcher shop. She intrigues the man with her combination of beauty and the blood on her clothing from her work. One day, he follows her down a lane to the back of the butcher shop, catching a glimpse of her bloody footprints disappearing up the stairs, reinforcing her separation from the world of the man who loves her. The poem uses contrasting imagery of white, beauty, and blood to create an atmosphere of mystery and danger surrounding the unattainable butcher's daughter.

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    poem

    Original Title

    Street

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    The poem "Street" tells the story of a man who falls in love at first sight with the "butcher's daughter", a mysterious young woman who works in a butcher shop. She intrigues the man with her combination of beauty and the blood on her clothing from her work. One day, he follows her down a lane to the back of the butcher shop, catching a glimpse of her bloody footprints disappearing up the stairs, reinforcing her separation from the world of the man who loves her. The poem uses contrasting imagery of white, beauty, and blood to create an atmosphere of mystery and danger surrounding the unattainable butcher's daughter.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    316 views2 pages

    Street-Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin

    Uploaded by

    iffinichonchubhair
    The poem "Street" tells the story of a man who falls in love at first sight with the "butcher's daughter", a mysterious young woman who works in a butcher shop. She intrigues the man with her combination of beauty and the blood on her clothing from her work. One day, he follows her down a lane to the back of the butcher shop, catching a glimpse of her bloody footprints disappearing up the stairs, reinforcing her separation from the world of the man who loves her. The poem uses contrasting imagery of white, beauty, and blood to create an atmosphere of mystery and danger surrounding the unattainable butcher's daughter.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Street-Eilan N Chuilleanin

    Street is a short narrative poem written in the third person.


    The poem is inspired by an actual person; a real girl who worked
    in a butchers shop that the poet once saw and never forgot.
    The poet was also influenced by Joseph Conrads novel The
    Rover set during the French Revolution. It tells the story of a
    beautiful, mysterious girl who would accompany the mob when
    they went out killing people. One day she returned home with
    her skirt bloodied up to her knee. This image stuck with N
    Chuilleanin and we can see how it may have inspired the
    danger and mystery in this poem.
    The images created in the poem give it a cinematic quality.
    The opening stanza describes how the man has fallen in love
    with the butchers daughter and there is an air of mystery
    surrounding the girl.
    From the outset we are introduced to an unusual combination
    of themes; romance, death, beauty and danger.
    The image of the woman dressed in white and dangling a
    knife on a ring on her belt seems to captive the man and he
    has fallen in love at first sight.
    The male character appears to be almost hypnotised by the
    droplets of blood she leaves in her wake:
    He stared at the dark shining drops on the paving-stones
    The first stanza is intriguing; the reader is left asking many
    questions, such as; is the girl aware of the mans feelings?
    What is it about her that captivates him?
    The second stanza describes how One day he followed her
    down a lane to the back of the shambles. This further
    intensifies the mystery created in the first stanza and reminds
    the reader that this is the place where she butchers animals.

    The door half-open seems to suggest that the man does not
    belong there; he is not part of her world and so he can only
    catch a glimpse of it.
    The place is described as brushed and clean, not an image we
    would necessarily associate with a slaughter house.
    A final reference to blood comes in the closing lines of the
    poem as the poet describes the girls bloody footprints
    disappearing up the stairs:
    Each tread marked with the red crescent
    Her bare heels left, fading to faintest at the top.
    The closing lines reinforce the fact that the butchers
    daughter is unattainable and very separate to the man who has
    fallen in love with her.
    Points to Note
    Themes-Romance/love, danger
    Imagery-contrasting images of beauty and blood. White and
    red (blood)
    Atmosphere-danger and mystery
    Leaves the reader asking questions
    Structure-free verse

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