Belfast Confetti

Brandon, Giovanni,
Genie, Adeline
Context
Ciaran Carson is a poet and novelist from Belfast. He was born in 1948 and grew up speaking Irish.Carson later
become a Professor of English at QUB (Queen’s University Belfast).

In 1969 during the protest, he avoided death when a bullet flew by him into a taxi. Carson has won a various
amounts of rewards, including Irish Times Irish Literature Prize, the T. S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Prize for Best
Poetry Collection and the Costa Poetry Award.

This poem “Belfast Confetti”, writes about a period known as “Troubles” which refers back to a violent thirty-year
conflict in Northern Ireland (around 1968-1998). It started by a civil rights march in Londonderry on 5 October
1968 and ended by Good Friday agreement on 10 April 1998. The goal of the nationalist was to become part of the
Republic of Ireland. The total amount of people killed during “Troubles” eventually exceeded 3,600. As many as
50,000 people were physically shocked and injured, which doesn’t count the 100,000+ others who were mentally
damaged. Several attempts to find a political solution have failed until the Good Friday Agreement came, which
restored the self-government to Northern Ireland and brought an end to the “Troubles”.
Meaning
The poem was written in the first person which gives a dramatic description of what it felt
like to be caught up in the violent riots in Belfast of 1970’s. In the aftermath of an IRA
bomb, there was chaos and the riot squad had to move in. In his confusion and terror the
poet could not find his way through the maze of belfast streets that he usually knows so
well of. He was stopped and interrogated by British soldiers but was unable to
communicate with them and answer their questions.

This shows us that “Troubles” was a confusing time and nothing seemed to make sense to
him or anyone anymore.
Analysis
Belfast Confetti by Ciaran Carson
The euphemism of the title describes the objects used as missiles by protesters in the city. Confetti suggests a happy
occasion but the reality is that it signifies a violent protest.
Suddenly (Unexpectedly, Sounds Vulnerable and in a very confused state)
as the riot squad moved in
it was raining exclamation marks,
(Metaphor suggesting fight and screams shock!. The opening suggests he was trying to escape from the reality he is
stuck in, danger-Exaggeration)
Nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys. (Were what the confetti was made out of)
A fount of broken type. (When you make a mistake, A suggestion of broken metals & the failure of words to describe
the sentence, eg )
And the explosion
Itself – an asterisk (Symbol of confusion, covering up something)on the map. This
hyphenated(representing the bullets) line, a burst of rapid fire . . . (Machine gun firing at a fast speed)
Analysis
I was trying to complete a sentence in my head, but it kept stuttering, (Suggests it goes on and on)
All the alleyways and side-streets blocked with stops and colons. (Feeling trapped - Metaphor for an army)
I know this labyrinth so well – Balaclava, Raglan, Inkerman, Odessa Street –
(Carson chose two stanzas of equal lengths. Past tense describing the violences and its effect when caught up in the
conflict. Present tense, relieving the fear of no longer recognising his hometown and being questioned by hostile
looking soldiers)
Why can’t I escape?

Every move is punctuated. Crimea Street. Dead end again. (The question in line 17 at the end of the poem are in
listed form, not only to suggest confusion, but they also inform us of the standard impersonal questions the soldier
asks.)
A Saracen, Kremlin-2 mesh. Makrolon face-shield. Walkie-talkies. What is

My name? Where am I coming from? Where am I going? A fusillade of question-marks. (The whole poem seems to
just be an extended metaphor for the way that violent conflicts destroys languages. Language is a system for
communication ideas, thoughts and feelings with other people. Take away languages and conflicts cannot be
resolved )
Purpose
The poem is trying to do something visually which represents the conflict and the fractured land it creates.
Not only that, when you are reading it, that sense of disharmony and chaos is emphasised once again by the
line breaks, the use of caesura and the enjambment. Ciaran Carson uses language, and punctuation, to help
create this fractured image. （In addition, the punctuation itself becomes part of the break.）

This is what Ciaran Carson is really trying to play around with, which is the effects of the visuals of
punctuation. And its entire purpose is to show how the city is under attack. That suggests the immanence of
violence in a conflict zone.
Target audience
The main target audience of this poem were the public as he tells them about the confusion of the protest. In
the poem, Carson was trying to express his confusion and terror about the riot to the audience, to show how
terrible the damage was. We can identify he is trying to get the public to acknowledge the fact that the
protest was very confusing and a mess when he writes “My name?...” till the end of the poem.