| Amra Choluim Chille | Dallán’s Elegy for Columba |
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| Amra Choluim Chille | Dallán’s Elegy for Columba (excerpt) |
| Guionn Dallán Dia Dia, Dia a ghuífinn sula dtéim ina dháil Trí charbaid ghleo. Nár lige Dia neimhe i mbuíonta an éimh mé, Ar mhéad a ndobróin. Go saora Dia ar an múr tine mé, Ar bhuanpholl na ndeor! Dia fíréan fíorchóngarach a chluineann mo nuallghol Ó Pharthas an cheo. Colum: Scéala agus Méala a Bháis Ní díscéil teach Néill, Ní mion-osna aon-mhá: Mór an mhairg, mór an chreach, Dífhulaing a fhaisnéis Nach maireann Colum ina chill. Conas a léireoidh daoi é – go fiú Néra féin: – Fáidh Dé de dhíorma na suadh i Síon Anois beag a d’éag? Ní mhaireann sé linn, Ní leas anma dúinn ár saoi; Ár ndídean a chaomhnaigh na beo, atá marbh. D’éag orainn ár n-urra, taca na mbocht. D’éag orainn ár dtaidhleoir don Tiarna. Mar ní farainn atá an saoi a scaipeadh uainn imeagla; Mar nach dtiocfaidh arís chugainn an té a labhraíodh focal fíor; Mar nach maireann an t-oide a mhúineadh tuatha Toí. An saol go léir – ba leis é; – Is cruit gan chéis anois, is cill gan abb. |
The blind poet Dallán invokes God God, my God I will entreat ere I come before Him Through the war chariots of Satan. May God of Heaven not leave me On the tracks of the anguished In great desolation. May the great God save me from the fiery wall, From the long-lasting pit of tears. The just God is near me And hears my sad cry From the cloudland of Heaven. The News of Colum’s Death Not without tidings is the House of Niall, Not the sighing of a single plain But a great grief, a woe Painful to relate: Colum no longer lives. How shall a fool declare it – even Nera? God’s prophet from the elect of Sion Has just passed away. No longer with us, Our sage will no more salve our soul, Our protector who shielded the living has died, Our leader, support of the poor. We have no-one now to speak for us to the Lord. Gone is the noble one who banished our fear, He who spoke truth will not return to us – The master who once taught the tribes of Tay. The whole world was his, Now the harp has no key, the church no abbot. |
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Dallán Forgaill |
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| Ealaíontóir/Artist: Peannaire/Calligrapher: Aistritheoir/Translator: Ainmníodh ag/Nominator: |
William Crozier Donald Murray Prof. P. L. Henry Biddy Jenkinson |
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