1. Eilean Ní Chuilleanáin
Street
Eilean Ní Chuilleanáin

2. The things that are revealed about the butcher’s daughter:
‘Street’ is a short lyric poem which explores edges, boundaries and the mystery which lies beyond that which seems familiar.
The entire poem has a dream-like quality with some elements of nightmare as the woman carries a ‘knife’, the man gazes at the ‘dark shining drops’ of blood, and follows the woman down the slanting lane.
The things that are revealed about the butcher’s daughter:
She wears white – often associated with purity, sanctity or cleanliness
She is “dangling a knife on a ring on her belt”. The word “dangling” suggests a dancing or playful quality.
It also tells us the blade is uncontrolled or bouncing in any direction.
In some cultures, goddesses play double roles as sanctified, compassionate beings yet also bringers of bloody death and destruction.

3. The poem opens with a narrative concerning an unidentified man who falls in love with a butcher’s daughter.
This woman obviously works with her father as she wears the “white trousers” commonly worn by butchers and has a “knife on a ring on her belt”.
The poet places the word “Dangling” at the start of the third line which suggests that the knife is, somehow, an invitation or enticement to follow – (dangling a carrot in front of a donkey  )

4. There is, however, something repellent in this image of a tool used to butcher animals.
The hypnotic fascination of the man as he stares at the “dark shining drops on the paving – stones” is both revolting and mysterious, leading to countless questions in the mind of the reader.
Is he attracted to the woman because of her ability to inflict death in order to make a living? Is this a normal source of attraction? Why is her beauty or lack of it not mentioned? Does she know he is watching her?

5. The mystery builds up and compels the reader to read on to discover more.

6. The second longer stanza continues the narrative with a build-up of tension as a man securely follows the woman: “One day he followed her”.
We can almost see him, half-concealed as he moves through the “slanting lane at the back of the shambles” (a place for slaughtering animals).
We wonder why he is so secretive and he is so elusive.
The gentle downward movement “slanting”, may suggest a gradual entry into a kind of netherwood or hell.

7. Next, he arrives at a door which “stood half - open”.
This detail invites us to wonder if the door has been deliberately left half-open so that he can continue to follow her or if it has been half closed in order to deter him from doing so.
Certainly the door represents some form of barrier which must be overcome just like the stairs.
Most intriguing of all perhaps is the fact that having removed her shoes, the woman climbs the stairs leaving the faint, fading “red crescent” of her heel marks on each step.

8. Her shoes are paired neatly at the foot of the stairs, but the neatness of her shoe placement contrasts with the fact that she must be standing in so much gore during her work that blood still gets inside to stain her feet.
As she rises up, away from the world of the dead or dying flesh, her physical trail vanishes, leaving the man behind in the normal world. Is this woman perhaps a goddess of sorts? One who has power, who can leave behind the physical world, transcending it?

9. At this point the narrative abruptly stops
At this point the narrative abruptly stops. We never discover the identity of either the man or the woman. We never discover if they met or even if he continued to follow her.

10. Street is an unusual variant of the quest type of fairy tale.
The domestic normality of the images conceals the strangeness of the attraction.
The man is prepared to follow the woman in a manner that is almost menacing.
He “fell in love with her” when he saw her wearing the clothing and bearing the knife of the trade.
He appears more fascinated with the drops of blood on the ground than with her bloodied heel prints (a lot of blood must have been spilt if it actually seeped into her shoes!) than he does with her personality or actual beauty.

11. There is no doubt that in this poem Ní Chuilleanáin dangles a story before the bewildered eyes of the readers and allows us to ponder its mystery for themselves.

12. LANGUAGE
Imagery:
There is something cinematic about the story of the poem. The poet focuses on the girl’s trousers and her belt and then zooms into the drops of blood on the pavement.
We are then following the path down to the back of the shambles where we are brought to a “door half-open”. We move inside the door and are presented with an image of the stairs with the shoes neatly arranged and the blood marks on the steps.
The images are intriguing and suggest much about the girl and the world she inhabits.