Patrick Pearse Poem, in Gaelic and in English

FORNOCHT DO CHONAC THÚ
le
Pádraig Mac Piarais

Fornocht do chonac thú,
a áille na háille,
is do dhallas mo shúil
ar eagla go stánfainn.

Do chualas do cheol,
a bhinne na binne,
is do dhúnas mo chluas
ar eagla go gclisfinn.

Do bhlaiseas do bhéal
a mhilse na milse,
is do chruas mo chroí
ar eagla mo mhillte.

Do dhallas mo shúil,
is mo chluas do dhúnas;
do chruas mo chroí,
is mo mhian do mhúchas.

Do thugas mo chúl
ar an aisling do chumas,
's ar an ród so romham
m'aighaidh do thugas.

Do thugas mo ghnúis
ar an ród so romham,
ar an ngníomh do-chim,
's ar an mbás do gheobhad. #

A translation:

Naked I saw thee,
O beauty of beauty,
And I blinded my eyes
For fear I should fail.

I heard thy music,
O melody of melody,
And I closed my ears
For fear I should falter.

I tasted thy mouth,
O sweetness of sweetness,
And I hardened my heart
For fear of my slaying.

I blinded my eyes,
And I closed my ears,
I hardened my heart
And I smothered my desire.

I turned my back
On the vision I had shaped,
And to this road before me
I turned my face.

I have turned my face
To this road before me,
To the deed that I see
And the death I shall die. #

This is the Patrick Pearse poem that Gabriel Byrne recited on the April 30th "Fresh Air" program, hosted by Terry Gross. Thanks to Una Kimbrew, my colleague and classmate with the East Side Irish-American Club's Wednesday night Irish language study group.

Irish-Gaelic Spoken on Public Radio Yesterday

Yesterday I heard Terry Gross, host of the National Public Radio show "Fresh Air," interview Irish actor Gabriel Byrne. The interview was fascinating, with Bryne speaking of his years as a seminarian and his experiences with the notorious Christian Brothers. Some of those experiences sounded very familiar to me, growing up in the Catholic Church of the 1950's and 1960's. The difference is that I had Cleveland Ursuline nuns, not Christian Brothers. And I would put my money on the Ursulines, especially Sr. Ann Francis, in a smackdown. Really, it wouldn't even be close! Toward the end of the 39-minute interview, Terry Gross asked Byrne about Gaelic, and asked him to recite a poem. Byrne hemmed and hawed a bit, but then proceeded to recite parts of a poem by the great Irish patriot, Patrick Pearse (executed after the Easter 1916 Rising by the Brits). The English title of the poem is "Ideal," and it was translated into English by Thomas MacDonagh. To hear the interview, go to this website: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103651864

If you just want to hear the poem recited in Irish, begin listening around minute 31:45 of the interview. I do recommend the entire interview for some of the interesting and funny comments made by Bryne (especially how his mind was changed about committing to priestly celibacy). The MacDonagh translation of the Pearse poem "Ideal" can be located using a google search, but so far I haven't been able to find (or discern by listening) the exact Irish text.

If you've never read William Butler Yeats' immortal poem about the Easter Rising, google search "Easter 1916." It will give a shiver. Near the end of the poem Yeats writes:

What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse -
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.