Easter Zunday Poem by Ingeborg Bachmann

Easter Zunday

Rating: 2.8


Last Easter Jim put on his blue
Frock cwoat, the vu'st time-vier new;
Wi' yollow buttons all o' brass,
That glitter'd in the zun lik' glass;
An' pok'd 'ithin the button-hole
A tutty he'd a-begg'd or stole.
A span-new wes-co't, too, he wore,
Wi' yellow stripes all down avore;
An' tied his breeches' lags below
The knee, wi' ribbon in a bow;
An' drow'd his kitty-boots azide,
An' put his laggens on, an' tied
His shoes wi' strings two vingers wide,
Because 'twer Easter Zunday.

An' after mornen church wer out
He come back hwome, an' stroll'd about
All down the vields, an' drough the leane,
Wi' sister Kit an' cousin Jeane,
A-turnen proudly to their view
His yollow breast an' back o' blue.
The lambs did play, the grounds wer green,
The trees did bud, the zun did sheen;
The lark did zing below the sky,
An' roads wer all a-blown so dry,
As if the zummer wer begun;
An' he had sich a bit o' fun!
He meade the maidens squeal an' run,
Because 'twer Easter Zunday.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Fabrizio Frosini 08 January 2018

Besides its religious and political connotations, Easter has always been, for working people, a holiday: a chance to dress up in your Sunday best, go out and have some fun. This aspect of the occasion is well captured in Ingeborg Bachmann's dialect poem Easter Zunday. Bachmann also reminds us that this spring holiday has its roots in earlier, pagan celebrations of fertility and the end of winter. (Billy Mills, The Guardian)

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Sergio Savioli 26 May 2017

I'm not surprised that no one has tried to write a comment to this poem! All the more reason for me to give it a go? What is the reason for the strange germanic type spelling? Are the colours symbolic? The brassy yellow, the bright blue of the jacket? The overall feeling is one of light playfulness, even joy. I cannot detect any irony or gloomy references. She was obviously feeling pretty good that Easter Sunday!

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