Peter Costello
36_01 - Jules Supervielle and his family The Ox and the Ass of the Manger,
by Jules Supervielle, translated from the original French by Sr Elizabeth McGeown
(Published at the Carmelite Monastery, Star of the Sea, Seapark, Malahide, €4.99 plus p+p; email rmebodc@gmail.com)
This is an unusual little book. Intended perhaps as a Christmas gift, this is a poetic evocation of the nativity through the eyes of the ox and the ass, the original witnesses to the coming of the baby Jesus. It might move many to think of Bethlehem outside of the bleak days of December, for many days at this present time are bleak days in that little town.
It has been translated as a labour of love by a sister of the community of Carmelites out in Malahide. This community was formerly resident in Ranelagh, on the site of what is now the very popular park there, where there is a commemorative cross to their memory.
The fable in this little publication comes from a 1931 collection by the French-Uruguayan poet, which the translator thinks ‘is a beautiful story which it would be a pity to lose’”
The convent was behind my childhood home. I could look out over their land, which was leased to a local dairyman. The convent announced the canonical hours by means of a bell which was cracked, a strange but memorable thing in its own way. The dairyman sold his milk and eggs from a little shop beside the entrance arch to the convent. I never remember an ass.
The fable in this little publication comes from a 1931 collection by the French-Uruguayan poet, which the translator thinks “is a beautiful story which it would be a pity to lose”. Indeed, Jules Supervielle is a writer little known in these islands.
Unique
Certainly it will present readers with an opportunity to discover the unique writings of a poet who has been called “one the most influential writers of modern France.” He was much admired by T. S. Eliot, who placed next to Saint-John Perse, as among the poets of his day likely to retain their reputations in coming days.
This book, as I say, seems to have been intended as a Christmas gift, as Christmas is the time when we tend to think most about the little town of Bethlehem. But in these days of strife and fear we should perhaps have a thought for Bethlehem at other seasons for the birthplace of Christianity and its people now suffer under problems of security, isolation and impending doom as do so many Palestinians.
A charming book for children which will give adults a chance to think too”
The poet narrates the happenings in the stable in a charming manner, but with a firm idea of the choices we all have to make. The ass goes with the family on that desert road to Egypt; the ox remains and faces his final hours with resignation, his purpose in life achieved. A charming book for children which will give adults a chance to think too.
A lengthy appreciation of Jules Somerville by poet Peter Sirr appears in the online journal The Dublin Review of Books, issue 38, July 1, 2013.
Assistance to the Christian communities in the Middle East can be directed through Aid to the Church in Need Ireland, whose public affairs officer is the former editor of The Irish Catholic, Michael Kelly; contact info@acnireland.org.