Celtic poems

[Goddess2u]

I found this poem and just love it. I was hoping that perhaps someone else had a few to share as well.

"O Lady of the Fair Hair,
Sing to me of the fair ancient land.
Yours divine voice
Whispers the poetry of magic
that flow through the wind,
Like sweet-tasting water of the Boyne.
"Girls, forever young and beautiful,
Dancing around the broken dun,
Where long forgotten heroes
sang of victory
And drank ales
to old memories.
"Sing to me one last time,
Goddess of the Fair Hair,
Before my old ear fail me.
Let me see you dance,
Before your beauty fade away
from my failing sight."


— Song to the Lady of the Fair Hair,
from the Book of Heroes

 

[Camma]

My all time favourite poet for both his poems relating to Celtic mythology and his other poetry is W.B Yeats. There a so many Celtic allusions throughout his work that it is hard to know where to start - he writes about Fergus, Conchubar, Cuchulainn, Dairmuid, Grania ...... I shall plump for a poem the story of which, "The Dream of Oengus", appeared in early Irish medieval literature c746. Yeat's poem is called :

The Song of Wandering Aengus

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

 

[Goldie]

I do enjoy reading Celtic poems but I can not say that I actually have a personal favorite. I pretty much enjoy them all. They have a unique character and aura about them that intrigue me a great deal.

 

[RLynn]

W. B. Yeats poetry is so wonderful that I have never been able to find words to describe it. While most of his poems do not deal directly with mythology, they all reflect a mindset conditioned by Irish myth, legend, and culture. He is beyond the shadow of a doubt one of the greatest poets who ever lived.

Richard

 

[RLynn]

I just can't resist posting one of my favorite poems by Yeats. Don't try to analyze it rationally. Just let your imagination soar and enjoy the ride! Try to visualize the various events described.

The Secret Rose

FAR-OFF, most secret, and inviolate Rose,
Enfold me in my hour of hours; where those
Who sought thee in the Holy Sepulchre,
Or in the wine-vat, dwell beyond the stir
And tumult of defeated dreams; and deep
Among pale eyelids, heavy with the sleep
Men have named beauty. Thy great leaves enfold
The ancient beards, the helms of ruby and gold
Of the crowned Magi; and the king whose eyes
Saw the pierced Hands and Rood of elder rise
In Druid vapour and make the torches dim;
Till vain frenzy awoke and he died; and him
Who met Fand walking among flaming dew
By a grey shore where the wind never blew,
And lost the world and Emer for a kiss;
And him who drove the gods out of their liss,
And till a hundred morns had flowered red
Feasted, and wept the barrows of his dead;
And the proud dreaming king who flung the crown
And sorrow away, and calling bard and clown
Dwelt among wine-stained wanderers in deep woods:
And him who sold tillage, and house, and goods,
And sought through lands and islands numberless years,
Until he found, with laughter and with tears,
A woman of so shining loveliness
That men threshed corn at midnight by a tress,
A little stolen tress. I, too, await
The hour of thy great wind of love and hate.
When shall the stars be blown about the sky,
Like the sparks blown out of a smithy, and die?
Surely thine hour has come, thy great wind blows,
Far-off, most secret, and inviolate Rose?

 

[Goddess2u]

Thanks for sharing all of these and I am going to try to find more Yeats' poems. These poems are truly inspired and have a rythm that speaks to the soul.