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But then, once in a lifetime the longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme.

Seamus Heaney, The Cure at Troy

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Seamus Heaney (1939–2013), the Irish poet born in Northern Ireland who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995, wrote these lines for The Cure at Troy, his 1990 version of Sophocles' Greek tragedy Philoctetes, first staged in Derry. Just before them, the chorus warns that history tells us not to hope in this life, so the hope here is rare, not promised. Written during the Troubles, the decades of conflict in Northern Ireland, the lines have since been quoted by Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and many other politicians.

Türkçe oku
Ama sonra, ömürde bir kez, özlenen o dev adalet dalgası yükselebilir ve umutla tarih kafiyeleşir.
Seamus Heaney, The Cure at Troy

1995'te Nobel Edebiyat Ödülü'nü kazanan, Kuzey İrlanda doğumlu İrlandalı şair Seamus Heaney (1939–2013), bu dizeleri Sophokles'in Philoktetes tragedyasından uyarladığı ve ilk kez 1990'da Derry'de sahnelenen The Cure at Troy (Truva'da Şifa) oyunu için yazdı. Hemen öncesinde koro, tarihin bize bu dünyada umut etmemeyi söylediğini hatırlatır; yani buradaki umut vaat edilmiş değil, enderdir. Kuzey İrlanda'da onlarca yıl süren ve “The Troubles” diye anılan çatışmalar sırasında yazılan dizeler, o günden bu yana Bill Clinton, Joe Biden ve pek çok siyasetçi tarafından alıntılandı.

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Background reading: Seamus Heaney
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