Subh Mhilis (and my sweet jam translation)
A beautiful, simple Irish poem by Seamas O'Neill (1910-1981) that I learned at school (taken from Favourite Poems We Learned In School As Gaeilge, compiled by Thomas F. Walsh, Mercier Press 1994):
Bhí subh mhilis
Ar bhoschrann an dorais,
Ach mhúch me an corraí
Ionam a d'éirigh,
Mar smaoinigh mé ar an lá
A bheas an bhoschrann glan,
Agus an lámh bheag
Ar iarraidh.
And here's my doesn't-do-it-justice translation:
There was jam
on the door handle
but I held back the anger
that was beginning to rise
because I thought of the day
when the door handle would be clean
and the little hand
gone away.
Bhí subh mhilis
Ar bhoschrann an dorais,
Ach mhúch me an corraí
Ionam a d'éirigh,
Mar smaoinigh mé ar an lá
A bheas an bhoschrann glan,
Agus an lámh bheag
Ar iarraidh.
And here's my doesn't-do-it-justice translation:
There was jam
on the door handle
but I held back the anger
that was beginning to rise
because I thought of the day
when the door handle would be clean
and the little hand
gone away.
2 Comments:
Táim buíoch duit ón aistruchán a rinneas don dán deas seo. Caith súil ar mo dhialann (blog) ag worldwalks.blogspot.com.
Oh, that is so beautifully compressed. Talk about Irish haiku.Thank you for posting that.
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