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This Is Poetry (HL 2019) videos: Brendan Kennelly

Begin
Bread
Oliver to His Brother
I See You Dancing, Father
A Cry for Art O'Leary
A Great Day
St Brigid's Prayer


BEGIN

Watch the video below. Does it capture the mood and atmosphere of the poem as you have envisaged it? Comment on the images used in this production. Write a paragraph explaining your answer.



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BREAD

Watch the video below and describe in your own words the process by which she makes the bread. What is her attitude towards the work she undertakes? Would you characterise her approach as painstaking or casual?



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OLIVER TO HIS BROTHER

This video contains a Monty Python song. Why do you think that they chose to present Cromwell’s life in this manner? What is it that they are seeking to convey about him? Do you think that Kennelly’s poem seeks to do something similar or very different?



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I SEE YOU DANCING, FATHER

This video features the voice of Brendan Kennelly reading the poem. Watch the video carefully, then answer the following questions:

• Based on the poet’s reading, do you think this is a joyful or sad poem? Is it a bit of both?

• Do you think the visuals provide a suitable accompaniment to the poem? Give a reason for your answer.



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A CRY FOR ART O'LEARY

This video provides some background information on Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, who wrote the Irish from which Kennelly translated the poem, and her husband Art O’Leary. It also dramatises certain sections of the poem. Watch the video carefully, then answer the following questions:

• Are they using Kennelly’s translation of the poem or a different one? How might the same source material produce many different versions?

• What do you think of the performances and dress of the actors who portray Eibhlín and Art? Are they believable as figures from the late 1700s? Or are they more representative of the period when the film was made – the 1970s? Explain your answer.



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A GREAT DAY

Watch the video below and listen carefully to the song’s lyrics. Do you think that people should only get married when they have given serious thought to how they will spend the rest of their lives together or do you think it can be something fun to do on the spur of the moment?



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ST BRIGID'S PRAYER

Watch the video below. Is this the kind of scene Brigid had in mind when she described the men of Heaven dancing and singing or was she thinking of a more serious and formal atmosphere?



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