transl. James Carney, U. of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1967
Here are 94 pages of Irish poems, including both the originals, in Latin or Irish, and an English rendition. The poems, both secular and religious, from the ten words of "Is Mebul" to the thirty-three stanzas of "Aithbe Dum Cen Bes Moro", from the allegedly pagan "Ticfa Talcenn" to "Caoineadh Na Maighdine" offer a glimpse of the rich response of the Irish to stirring experiences, thoughts and feelings.
As with all text, a vast variety of subjectively valid perceptions is possible on encountering these poems. In a number of places the translator has offered his personal contribution to enhancing the rainbow of individual interpretations. He has shared with posterity his view that the aging composer of "A Chrinoc, Cubaid Do Cheol" is addressing his old psalm-book. He has attempted to reconstruct the line absent in the surviving Irish version to correspond to the Latin, "Incantabit nefas," in "Ticfa Talcenn" and expressed his dissatisfaction that his, "Canfaid michrabud," satisfies content but not the metrical form, although I opine the possible thought that a poet could accent the impact of his view of the abnormality of the nefas being sung by deliberately violating the standard syllable count here.
He offers the view that "Teicht Do Roim" is by Sedulius Scottus and informs the reader that he, the translator, discovered the poem "M'aenuran Dam Isa Sliab" as well as "Tair Cucum, A Maire Boid." His introduction quotes a reference to Twentieth Century folk belief in the sod of death mentioned in "M'aenuran Dam Isa Sliab", and it contains his disagreement with the view "Aithbe Dam Cen Bes Moro" is a dramatic lyric; instead, in Carney's opinion, this is a product of a woman whose experiences resembled those of Gormlaith.
Although I lack the Irish to comment meaningfully on the originals in that language and I admit my less than sympathetic response at this time to the Christian poems, including most of those composed in Latin, I did find some of these poems as translated fascinating and enjoyable. I was especially interested in "Ticfa Talcenn" which, in my opinion, seems to present an intolerance more often associated with a monotheistic hagiographer than such a pagan as is allegedly quoted in the "Vita Tripartita".
And, possibly my favourite poem in the book is Godfraidh Fionn O Dalaigh's Tadhbhas Do Lugh, Leannan Teamhra". It looks as though it would sound great sung in Irish and this quite poetic translator has provided an English rendition I find quite appealing.
All in all, this little volume is a splendid contact with the world of Irish verse.