The Adventure of Conlae
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Two tales slice the heart: The Adventure of Conlae and Joyce’s ‘Eveline’.
Take Eveline first, sitting by her window, moored to the street
by her childhood memories.
A young sailor offers her a way out but she’s caught in two minds.
Eveline? She won’t budge.
But don’t let her story fool you: it’s not a daughter’s duty tethering her
so much as the lure of what’s familiar.
Eveline and Conlae are twin tales (a lover, a boat and a chance of escape),
only in this case — the youth gives up.
You can’t but wonder how they fared, Conlae and his temptress,
from the moment they first set sail in her crystal boat.
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by Aifric Mac Aodha
from Gabháil Syrinx
publisher: An Sagart, Dublin, 2010
translation: 2011, Aifric Mac Aodha