Colum-Cille’s Farewell To Ireland

Douglas Hyde 1860 (Castlerea, County Roscommon) – 1949 (Little Ratra, Phoenix Park, Dublin)



ALAS for the voyage, O High King of Heaven,
Enjoined upon me,
For that I on the red plain of bloody Cooldrevin
Was present to see.

How happy the son is of Dima; no sorrow
For him is designed,
He is having, this hour, round his own hill in Durrow,
The wish of his mind.

The sounds of the winds in the elms, like strings of
A harp being played,
The note of a blackbird that claps with the wings of
Delight in the shade.

With him in Ros-Grencha the cattle are lowing
At earliest dawn,
On the brink of the summer the pigeons are cooing
And doves in the lawn.

Three things am I leaving behind me, the very
Most dear that I know,
Tir-Leedach I’m leaving, and Durrow and Derry;
Alas, I must go!

Yet my visit and feasting with Comgall have eased me
At Cainneach’s right hand,
And all but thy government, Eiré, have pleased me,
Thou waterful land.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

49 sec read
101

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH BCBC BIBI
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 851
Words 164
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Douglas Hyde

Douglas Ross Hyde (Irish: Dubhghlas de hÍde), known as An Craoibhín Aoibhinn (lit. "the pleasant little branch"), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 to June 1945. He was a leading figure in the Gaelic revival, and the first President of the Gaelic League, one of the most influential cultural organisations in Ireland at the time. more…

All Douglas Hyde poems | Douglas Hyde Books

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