Atá in spideog derg uli...

Atá in spideog derg uli, a Domnaill, ocus atusa am oenur.

is * the * robin * red * all * o * Domhnall * and * I am * in my * oneness

The robin is all red, Donald, and I am all alone.

Murchadh Ó Cuindlis wrote this personal note at the bottom of page 73 of the Leabhar Breac. The Domhnall he apostrophizes here may have been his patron. This marginal note feels a lot like a haiku. With a little permissible “bádud” (vowel elision) has the seventeen syllables of a haiku, the reference to nature if not outright reference to season, and the “cutting” or “imaginative distance” between its two parts.

See also “Ach achon ach am toirsech monuar!” in this collection.

Topics: Verse