Réalt na hOíche / Night Star
Réalt na hOíche
Thug Máirtín aghaidh ar Bhaile Átha Cliath i Meán Fómhair na bliana 1937 tar éis dó ardú céime a fháil chuig an Roinn Poist agus Teileagrafa in Ard-Oifig an Phoist.
Bhí borradh mór faoi ghluaiseacht na Gaeilge i mBaile Átha Cliath an tráth úd agus chuaigh Máirtín isteach sa chumann nuabhunaithe, Cumann na Scríbhneoirí.
Dar leis féin gurbh é a chuir i dtreo na filíochta é ná léacht a thug an scoláire iomráiteach Tórna, nó Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (1874-1949) don chumann, ach seans go raibh féith na filíochta ag bualadh ann le tamall.
Is féidir a rá gur cuireadh tús le ré na nuafhilíochta nuair a foilsíodh an chéad dán óna pheann, ‘Réalt na hOíche’, ar 23 Nollaig 1938 in Scéala Éireann.
Ba mhór an misneach a bhí aige laincisí na seanmheadarachtaí a chaitheamh ar leataobh agus rogha a dhéanamh den tsaorvéarsaíocht. Mar a d’fhógair sé níos deireanaí: “Níor chabhair mhór d’éinne againn san aois seo aon uaill ná macalla ó na filí a chuaigh romhainn inár dteanga féin.”
Níor glacadh chomh maith sin lena shaothar i dtosach. Dar le criticeoirí áirithe go raibh ró-aithris á déanamh aige ar fhilíocht an Bhéarla. Mar a dúirt Séamus Ó Néill, “[Máirtín Ó Direáin] does not give us sufficient compensation for his throwing overboard of traditional Irish verse forms.” D’ainneoin sin is uile, chuir Ó Direáin dhá leabhar amach ar a chostas féin, Coinnle Geala (1942) agus Dánta Aniar (1943). Foilsíodh Coinnle Geala ar chostas £8 arbh ionann is pá coicíse é agus an cogadh fós faoi lán seoil.
Mar a scríobh Máirtín Ó Cadhain ag an am: “Dar príosta, tá misneach aige a dhul ag cur amach fhilíochta ar a chostas féin ins an Prosy Age agus nach ndéanann daoine ach fumbling in a greasy till, and add the halfpence to the pence mar a dúirt Yeats. Bhuel go n-éirí sin leis.”
Night Star
Máirtín moved to Dublin in September 1937 after being promoted to the Department of Post and Telegraphs in the GPO.
Dublin’s Irish language community was thriving at the time and Máirtín quickly assimilated into the newly founded Cumann na Scríbhneoirí [The Writers’ Association].
He claims to have been drawn to poetry after attending a lecture delivered to the association by the Munster scholar Tórna, or Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (1874-1949), although the idea of writing poetry had possibly been on his mind for some time.
His first poem, ‘Réalt na hOíche’ [Night Star], heralded a new age in Irish poetry on its publication on 23 December 1938 in The Irish Press.
Ó Direáin departed from previous poetic conventions by audaciously setting aside the traditional metres and embracing the form of free verse. He later noted, “No cry or echo from the poets who went before us in our own tongue would be of help to any of us in this time.”
His work received a mixed reception initially, with some critics suggesting he was too influenced by English language poetry. As the critic Séamus Ó Néill stated “[Máirtín Ó Direáin] does not give us sufficient compensation for his throwing overboard of traditional Irish verse forms.”
Despite this, Ó Direáin self-published two collections, Coinnle Geala [Bright Candles] and Dánta Aniar [Poems from the West] in 1942 and 1943 respectively. The cost for the publication of Coinnle Geala was £8 which was equal to a fortnight’s salary at the height of the war.
As writer Máirtín Ó Cadhain noted at the time, “Flipping heck, he has some courage publishing poetry at his own expense in this Prosy Age when people are fumbling in a greasy till, and add the halfpence to the pence as Yeats said. Well, best of luck to him.”