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DANCE OF LIFE HOM M AGE TO HIERONYMUS BOSCH Hieronymus van Aeken (c.1450-1516), the Flemish painter known (from his birthplace) as Bosch. Works by him in the Prado include The Haywain, a triptych with representations of Eden, Hell, and the dangers besetting mankind, an allegory of society with a haywain at its centre, and the Adoration of the Kings, where the normal devotional iconography is surrounded by grotesque building and landscape elements. Homage to Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus van Aeken (c.1450-1516), the Flemish painter known (from his birthplace) as Bosch. Works by him in the Prado include The Haywain, a triptych with representations of Eden, Hell, and the dangers besetting mankind, an allegory of society with a haywain at its centre, and the Adoration of the Kings, where the normal devotional iconography is surrounded by grotesque building and landscape elements. For Alexander Andreyevitch Balascheff Balascheff was a friend of MacGreevy's in Paris in the 1930s. Brian Coffey recalls that Balascheff's grandfather was the Ambassador from Czarist Russia to the United States. Balascheff may have secured emigration papers after the 1917 Revolution in return for a loan to Lenin during the war.
A woman with no face walked into the light , A woman with no face walked into the light ; A boy, in a brown-tree norfolk suit holding on A boy, in a brown-tree norfolk suit ,
Holding on             without hands to her seeming skirt. Without hands
To her seeming skirt.

She stopped She stopped , And he stopped And he stopped , And I, in terror, stopped, staring. And I, in terror, stopped, staring.

Then I saw a half-circle of shadowy figures behind her. Then I saw a group of shadowy figures behind her.

It was a wild wet morning , It was a wild wet morning The little world was moving But the little world was spinning on.

And she addressed it . Liplessly, somehow, she addressed it : The book must be opened Perhaps a reference to the opening of the book with seven seals: 'Who is worthy to open the book? . . . And no man was able . . . to open the book, nor to look on it . . . . [but] one of the ancients said to me: Weep not; behold . . . the root of David hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof' (Apocalypse 5:2-5). The opening of the book was one of the scripture readings at Mass for the 31st of October, the eve of the feast of All Saints (All Hallows) and of Kevin Barry's execution. The phrase may also refer to the resentment of some nationalists to the Book of Kells being held by Trinity College, Dublin. -- And the park too. 'The park here has to do symbolically with the four green fields of Irish tradition and more particularly with the Dublin squares that are still closed except to residents.' The book must be opened Perhaps a reference to the opening of the book with seven seals: 'Who is worthy to open the book? . . . And no man was able . . . to open the book, nor to look on it . . . . [but] one of the ancients said to me: Weep not; behold . . . the root of David hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof' (Apocalypse 5:2-5). The opening of the book was one of the scripture readings at Mass for the 31st of October, the eve of the feast of All Saints (All Hallows) and of Kevin Barry's execution. The phrase may also refer to the resentment of some nationalists to the Book of Kells being held by Trinity College, Dublin.
And the park too. ' The park here has to do symbolically with the four green fields of Irish tradition and more particularly with the Dublin squares that are still closed except to residents.'

That was what, liplessly, somehow, she articulated. I might have tittered I might have tittered But my teeth chattered But my teeth chattered And then I saw that the words, as they fell, And I saw that the words, as they fell,             lay , wriggling, on the ground. Lay , wriggling, on the ground.

There was a stir of wet wind There was a stir of wet wind And the shadowy figures began to stir And the shadowy figures began to stir When , another, one who had seemed dead , When one I had thought dead Raised himself slowly out of his great effigy
                        on a tomb near by . Filmed slowly out of his great effigy on a tomb near by Then they all shuddered . And they all shuddered He bent as if to speak to the woman her He bent as if to speak to the woman But the nursery governor John Bernard, the Provost of Trinity College Dublin. flew up out of the
                        well of Saint Patrick, But the nursery governor John Bernard, the Provost of Trinity College Dublin. flew up out of the well of Saint Patrick, Confiscated by his mistress Queen Elizabeth I founded Trinity College, Dublin on lands confiscated from the Priory of All Hallows. Here regarded as the 'nursery governor's' (i.e. the provost's) mistress. , And -- his head bent, And , his head bent, Staring out over his spectacles, Staring out over his spectacles, And scratching the gravel furiously -- And scratching the gravel furiously , Hissed , (the words shooting upwards past his spectacles ): Hissed --
            The words went pingg! like bullets,
            Upwards past his spectacles -- Say nothing, I say, say nothing, say nothing! Say nothing, I say, say nothing, say nothing! Then he who had seemed to be coming back to life And he who had seemed to be coming to life Gasped, Gasped, Began , hysterically, to laugh and cry, Began hysterically, to laugh and cry, And, with a gesture of impotent and [?] alsohalfrather -petulant despair, And, with a gesture of impotent and halfrather -petulant despair, Filmed back into his effigy again. Filmed back into his effigy again.
High above the Bank of Ireland The old Irish Parliament House, opposite Trinity College, was designed in 1729 by Edward Lovett Pearce. After the Irish Parliament was dissolved due to the Act of Union in 1800, the building was converted into a bank. 'It was the dream of all Nineteenth Century Nationalists to see an independent Irish Parliament established there again.' High above the Bank of Ireland The old Irish Parliament House, opposite Trinity College, was designed in 1729 by Edward Lovett Pearce. After the Irish Parliament was dissolved due to the Act of Union in 1800, the building was converted into a bank. 'It was the dream of all Nineteenth Century Nationalists to see an independent Irish Parliament established there again.' Unearthly music sounded, Unearthly music sounded, Passing westwards. 'In Ireland we tend as a result of a poem written by Thomas Davis about 1840 to regard the west of Ireland ('of which Dublin in the east is but the capital expression') as the spirit of the nation. When the west is awake, that spirit is awake. When the west is asleep, that spirit is asleep.' The last stanza of 'The West's Asleep' captures that essence of MacGreevy's idea of the west:

And if, when all a vigil keep,
The West's asleep, the West's asleep --
Alas! and well may Erin weep,
That Connaught lies in slumber deep.
But, hark! some voice like thunder spake:
'The West's awake! the West's awake!'
'Sing, oh! hurra! let England quake,
We'll watch till death for Erin's sake!'
 Passing westwards. 'In Ireland we tend as a result of a poem written by Thomas Davis about 1840 to regard the west of Ireland ('of which Dublin in the east is but the capital expression') as the spirit of the nation. When the west is awake, that spirit is awake. When the west is asleep, that spirit is asleep.' The last stanza of 'The West's Asleep' captures that essence of MacGreevy's idea of the west:

And if, when all a vigil keep,
The West's asleep, the West's asleep --
Alas! and well may Erin weep,
That Connaught lies in slumber deep.
But, hark! some voice like thunder spake:
'The West's awake! the West's awake!'
'Sing, oh! hurra! let England quake,
We'll watch till death for Erin's sake!'
From the drains, Then, from the drains, Small sewage rats slid out , Small sewage rats slid out . They numbered hundreds of hundreds, tens, thousands.

This and the later phrases 'a multitude', and 'bowed obsequiously', appear to evoke a parody of the worship of Christ in heaven: 'And I beheld . . . the living creatures, and the ancients; and the number of them was thousands of thousands' (Apocalypse 5:11).

This was the passage read at Mass on the Eve of All Saints, the 31st of October.

 They numbered hundreds of hundreds, tens, thousands.

This and the later phrases 'a multitude', and 'bowed obsequiously', appear to evoke a parody of the worship of Christ in heaven: 'And I beheld . . . the living creatures, and the ancients; and the number of them was thousands of thousands' (Apocalypse 5:11).

This was the passage read at Mass on the Eve of All Saints, the 31st of October.

 Each bowed obsequiously to the shadowy figures Each bowed obsequiously to the shadowy figures Then turned and joined in a stomach dance with his brothers and sisters. Then turned and joined in a stomach dance with his brothers and sisters. Being a multitude, they danced irregularly. Being a multitude, they danced irregularly. There was rat laughter, There was rat laughter, Deeper here and there Deeper here and there , And occasionally she-rat cries grew hysterical. And occasionally she-rat cries grew hysterical. The shadowy figures looked on, agonised The shadowy figures looked on, agonized The woman with no face gave a cry and collapsed. The woman with no face gave a cry and collapsed. The rats danced on her The rats danced on her And on the wriggling words , And on the wriggling words Smirking. Smirking. The nursery-governor flew back into the well The nursery governor flew back into the well With the little figure without hands in the brown-tree clothes. With the little figure without hands in the brown-tree clothes.