Aniara is a poem of science fiction written by the Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson in 1956. It consists of 103 cantos and relates the tragedy of a space ship which, originally bound for Mars with a cargo of colonists from the ravaged Earth, after an accident is ejected from the solar system and into an existential struggle. The style is symbolic, sweeping and innovative for its time, with creative use of neologisms to suggest the science fictional setting: Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Winners of the Nobel Prize are scientists, writers and peacemakers who have been awarded in their field of endeavour, and who are known collectively as either Nobel laureates or Nobel Prize winners. ... Harry Martinson (May 6, 1904 - February 11, 1978) is a Swedish author and poet from Blechingia. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A canto is a significant section of a long poem or the highest part in a piece of choral music. ... Ariane 5 lifts off with the Rosetta probe on 2nd of March, 2004. ... Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. ... Major features of the Solar System (not to scale, from left to right): Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, the asteroid belt, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth & Moon, and Mars. ... Existentialism is a philosophical movement emphasizing individualism, individual freedom, and subjectivity. ... A neologism is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) — often to apply to new concepts, or to reshape older terms in newer language form. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...

We listen daily to the sonic coins

provided every one of us and played

through the Finger-singer worn on the left hand.

We trade coins of diverse denominations:

and all of them play all that they contain

and though a dyma 1 scarcely weighs one grain

it plays out like a cricket on each hand

blanching here in this distraction-land.

The first 29 cantos of Aniara had previously been published in Martinson's Cikada (1953), relating the departure from Earth, the accidental near-collision with an asteroid (incidentally named Hondo, another name for the main Japanese isle where Hiroshima is situated) and ejection from the solar system, the first few years of increasing despair and distractions of the passengers, until news is received of the destruction of their home port (and perhaps of Earth). According to Martinsson, he dictated the initial cycle as in a fever after a troubling dream, affected by the Cold War and the Soviet suppression of the 1956 Hungarian revolution. A canto is a significant section of a long poem or the highest part in a piece of choral music. ... Hondo can be: Hondo is a western film starring John Wayne. ... For other uses, see Hiroshima (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Combatants Soviet Union ÁVH Hungarian government, various nationalist militias Commanders Yuri Andropov Pál Maléter, Béla Király, Gergely Pongrátz, József Dudás Strength 150,000 troops, 6,000 tanks 100,000+ demonstrators (some later armed), unknown number of soldiers Casualties 720 killed according to official...

One of the major themes explored is the nature and necessity of art, symbolised by the semi-mystical machinery of the Mima, who relieves the ennui of crew and passengers with scenes of far-off times and places, and whose operator is also the sometimes naïve main narrator. The accumulated destruction the Mima witnesses impels her to destroy herself in despair, to which she, the machine, is finally moved by the white tears of the granite melted by the phototurb which annihilates their home port, the great city of Dorisburg. Without the succour of the Mima, the erstwhile colonists seek distraction in sensual orgies, memories of their own and earlier lives, low comedy, religious cults, observations of strange astronomical phenomena, empty entertainments, science, routine tasks, brutal totalitarianism, and in all kinds of human endeavour, but ultimately cannot face the emptiness outside and inside. The Bath, a painting by Mary Cassatt (1844-1926). ...

In form, the poems are metrical and mostly rhymed, using both traditional and individual forms, several alluding to a wide range of Swedish and Nordic poetry, such as e.g. the Finnish Kalevala. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... A rhyme is a repetition of identical or similar terminal sounds in two or more different words and is most often used in poetry. ... Political map of the Nordic countries and associated territories. ... The Kalevala is an epic poem which Elias Lönnrot compiled from Finnish folk lore in the 19th century. ...

An opera by Karl-Birger Blomdahl also called Aniara premiered in 1959 with a libretto by Erik Lindegren based on Martinson's poem. The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. ... Karl-Birger Blomdahl (October 19, 1916 - June 14, 1968) was a Swedish composer and conductor born in Växjö. He was educated in biochemistry, but was primarily active in music and by his experimental compositions he became one of the big names in Swedish modernism. ... For other works with the same name, please see Aniara. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A libretto is the complete body of words used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. ... J. Erik Lindegren (August 5, 1910 – May 31, 1968) was a Swedish author, poet and member of the Swedish Academy (1961-68, chair 17). ...

Aniara was referenced in Vernor Vinge's science fiction novel A Fire Upon the Deep. Vernor Steffen Vinge (IPA: ) (born February 10, 1944) is a mathematician, computer scientist and science fiction author who is best known for his Hugo award-winning novels A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky, as well as for his 1993 essay The Technological Singularity, in which... A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) is a science fiction novel written by Vernor Vinge. ...