William Auld: “Striptease” ("Incitnudiĝo")

William Auld (1924-2006) was one of Esperanto's most important poets and literary advocates, the leading figure of his generation. I have always found his social-critical poems to be the most memorable. This poem appeared in his 1969 collection of poems Humoroj (Moods), in which he declared himself to be writing more personally (and less politically) than before, but even personal poems inevitably reflect on the state of society. This one is clearly a social commentary:

"Incitnudiĝo" de/by William Auld, with “Striptease,” English translation / angla traduko de/by Roy McDonald

Here Auld provides a harsh take on the patrons of strip clubs in his social environment. I never forgot it after reading it over 45 years ago.

The word "Incitnudiĝo" is a compound word coined by Auld, consisting of the morphemes incite + naked + becoming + noun, characterizing what "stripping" is and characteristic of the creative use of Esperanto's expressive capability via the free creation of compounds.

An English translation was published in Star in a Night Sky: An Anthology of Esperanto Literature, edited by Paul Gubbins (London: Francis Boutle Publishers, 2012), a huge compendium of English translations of Esperanto originals. Here it is.