Caoine.
I.
A ṗlúir ’s a sgoiṫ na Féinne,
Buḋ tú an t-úġdar ceart ar Ḃeurla,
Buḋ tú an buinneán breáġ gan aon loċd
Ó’n ngréin go dtí an bárr;
’S é mo ḃrón mar d’eug tú
Ṡiar i ḃfad i n-Éirinn,
A’s gan aon-neaċ dod’ ġaoltaiḃ
Led’ ċaoine ós cionn an ċláir.
Is iomḋa marcaċ spéireaṁail
A’s cúlóg ḋaṫaṁail ġleusta
Do ṫiocfaḋ fód’ ḋéin
A’s tú ḃeiṫ déiḋeanaċ, a ḃáis!
A’s mar ḃeiṫ cinneaṁaint ġeall Mac Dé
ḋuit
’God’ ṡoċraid go leiṫ Éire(?),
Go gcoṁnuiġiḋ beannaċt Dé leat,
A’s go dtéiḋ tú i staid na ngrás.
II.
Ní binne laḃras eunlaiṫ
Faoi ḃruaċ na coille craoḃḋa;
Tá an ċuaċ ’san lon ’s an ċéirseaċ
Gan aon smigeaḋ aṁáin;
Tá an smóilín ṁilis ḃéil-ḃinn
’S an faoileán geal ag geur-ġol,
’S an eala ar ḃruaċ loċa Éirne
A’s ní féidir léiṫi snáṁ.
Ní ḟuil meas a’ teaċd ar ġeugaiḃ,
A’s ní ḟuil toraḋ a’teaċd i n-éifeaċt,
Ní ḟuil teas ar biṫ ’san ngréin, a’s
Ní ḟuil an feur glas a’ fás:
Tá an ġealaċ a’s na reulta
Faoi ḋuiḃṫin a’s faoi éicliops,
Ó cailleḋ croiḋe na féile
Ṫug an réim leis as gaċ áit.
NOTES.
Line 4, gréin=grian, the ground (at the bottom of a river, &c.) Perhaps ó ’n ḃfréiṁ should be read. Line 9, cúlóg, one who sits behind another on horseback. This quatrain is obscure, and is seemingly addressed to Death. Line 14, mar ḃeiṫ = muna mbeiṫ, muna mbeiḋeaḋ. Cinneaṁaint, the fate; article frequently omitted when relative clause follows and defines the noun. The fancy of nature, animate and inanimate, grieving for the dead, so simply and beautifully expressed in stanza 2, is a commonplace in Gaelic elegies.
This poem was taken down by me from the dictation of an old man in this parish. It was composed by a man living in Cramp Island, near Renvyle, in this county, on the occasion of the death of a young man called Gibbons, who was a leader among the people in ’98.
F. W. O’CONNELL
Aasleagh, Leenane,
Co. Galway.