Page "Aniara" Paragraph 10

The first 29 cantos of Aniara had previously been published in Martinson's collection Cikada ( 1953 ), under the title Sången om Doris och Mima ( The Song of Doris and Mima ), 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 Martinson, 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 ; in another version, the first 29 cantos were said to be inspired by an astronomic observation of Andromeda Galaxy.