MAN AND SHADOWMEET Artists’ Notes “This is an ‘Irish’ painting, covering the fighting units of Belfast and those across the border. The poem was written by the Irishman Thomas Michael Kettle and dated ‘In the field, before Guillemont, Somme, Sept. 4, 1916’ – just five days before his death. “The first half is narrated as if read to a child… soft, warm and loving, before swiftly changing to bitter, cold and angry in the second half when the ‘mad guns’ curse overhead.” Poem used: ‘To My Daughter Betty, the Gift of God’ by Thomas Michael Kettle. It is narrated by the Northern Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Gribbin, formerly of the band INX. The music was composed by Belfast composer Michael Keeney. About the poet: Thomas Michael Kettle (1880-1916) was an Irish economist, barrister, journalist, writer, politician and poet. An ardent supporter of liberty and democracy, he served in the trenches of the Western Front under the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. His daughter Elisabeth (Betty) was just three years old.
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