“He was suspicious in his youth, as a rat near strange bread.” – Patrick Kavanagh
Asperger syndrome is distinguished by a pattern of symptoms rather than a single symptom. It is characterized by qualitative impairment in social interaction, by stereotyped and restricted patterns of behaviour, activities and interests, and by no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or general delay in language. Intense preoccupation with a narrow subject, one-sided verbosity, restricted prosody, and physical clumsiness are typical of the condition. People with Asperger syndrome can display behaviour, interests, and activities that are restricted and repetitive and are sometimes abnormally intense or focused. They may stick to inflexible routines, move in stereotyped and repetitive ways, preoccupy themselves with parts of objects, or engage in compulsive behaviours like lining objects up to form patterns. Pursuit of specific and narrow areas of interest is one of the most striking among possible features of AS. Individuals with AS may collect volumes of detailed information on a relatively narrow topic. Although these special interests may change from time to time, they typically become more unusual and narrowly focused and often dominate social interaction so much that the entire family may become immersed. Because narrow topics often capture the interest of children, this symptom may go unrecognized.
The above is a description of Asperger’s Syndrome. Usually Asperger’s is associated with people in engineering or science fields of work. The reason for this, is that by definition Asperger’s allows for a laser like focus on certain tasks and an inability to deviate even slightly from plans, rules or objectives. Meaning people that suffered from Asperger’s could become brilliant in their field of work. Recently it has been discovered that Asperger’s can be seen in people that hold positions of political power. It is suspected that Pádraig Pearse had Asperger’s syndrome.
It’s very possible that Asperger’s played a role in the accomplishments or Pearse. Is it also possible that it can absolve him of his misgivings? His poetry has often contributed to the mystique of his character. He was well read. His poetry was well written, highly articulate, with a giant vocabulary and he was bi-lingual. The dichotomy of Pearse is evident in the fact, he was an armed insurgent based in GPO.
Pearse accomplished a considerable amount in his short life. He was inherently focused. Unwavering in his position on Irish republicanism. Intensely pre-occupied with the ‘blood sacrifice’ and extraordinarily driven. He is credited with keeping the Irish language alive and he founded not one, but two schools. A boys school. St. Enda’s and a girls school St. Ita’s. Among other successes. It is because of this extreme work ethic that it is very probable that he did have a high-functioning form of autism and there are academics researching this. If you were to write down on a blank sheet of paper a list of Asperger’s characteristics with a box beside each, Pearse ticks almost all. He had a remarkable strength of will and enormous reserves of energy but he was also grossly naive. He found it difficult to pick up on social cues, or sarcasm.
However, of all Pearse’s poetry, one short poem has threatened numerous times to undo the entirety of his accomplishments. The poem ‘Little Lad of the Tricks’ has recently been the subject of controversy. Sometimes referred to as his ‘paedophile’ poem. If taken literally, the text itself is shocking. However, as with all things, context is pivotal. The text of this poem is sometimes, at best, difficult to explain.
Pearse was chronically shy around women, this often lead to him being labelled homosexual. However, shyness is a characteristic of Asperger’s. Historians believe that because of his Asperger’s he could be misinterpreted.
Can Asperger’s too explain the seemingly inexplicable here?
Maybe it doesn’t need to. As mentioned previously context needs to be applied. The poem ‘Little Lad of the Tricks’ was first written in Irish and translated later to English. His ‘blood sacrifice’ statement was made at a time when society had a tendency to romanticise war until the horrors of the trenches taught people otherwise.
Pearse had great respect for James Connolly and took the latter’s disgust at his ‘blood sacrifice’ rhetoric on board, he moderated his language afterwards. More importantly, in 1915 he said:
‘war is a terrible thing and this is the most terrible of wars’, and in February 1916: ‘obviously if a nation can obtain its freedom without bloodshed it is its duty to so obtain it.’
Pearse’s poem was written in a more sexually innocent era and originally in Irish, where it sounded less suggestive. Even so, Thomas McDonagh and Joseph Plunkett wisely advised Pearse to dispense with it.
Was the poem written in a more sexually innocent time? Are we mis-interpreting its content? Was the text lost in translation? Or are we making allowances because the author is Pádraig Pearse? You decide.
Little lad of the tricks,
Full well I know
That you have been in mischief:
Confess your fault truly.
I forgive you, child
Of the soft red mouth:
I will not condemn anyone
For a sin not understood.
Raise your comely head
Till I kiss your mouth:
If either of us is the better of that
I am the better of it.
There is a fragrance in your kiss
That I have not found yet
In the kisses of women
Or in the honey of their bodies.
Lad of the grey eyes,
That flush in thy cheek
Would be white with dread of me
Could you read my secrets.
He who has my secrets
Is not fit to touch you:
Is not that a pitiful thing,
Little lad of the tricks? – Pádraig Pearse
Comments