Céin mair ailén mora máir...

Céin mair ailén mora máir:
dosn-icc tuile íarna tráig;
os mé, ní frescu dom-í
tuile tar éis n-aithbi.

(long * live * island * of sea * great / comes to it * flood tide * after its * ebbing / as for * me * not * expectation * (that) it may come to me / flood tide * after * ebb)

Lucky the island of the great sea:
flood tide returns to it after ebb;
as for me, I have no hope that
flood will follow ebb for me.

This is the closing stanza of “Aithbe Dam”, a poem usually called “The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare” in English. In it an aged woman who was once a great beauty looks back on her life with pride and regret.

Topics: Verse