(no subject)
Far be it from me to impugn the reputation of a giant of Gaelic verse (now deceased), but the following leads me to wonder; Sorley MacLean = kinkster?
Irisleachd
Somhairle Mac Gill-Eain
Mar riutsa tha m’irisleachd
co-ionnan ri m’uaill
Agus tha m’ùmlachd is m’àrdan
‘nan ceòl-gàire buan
Sleuchd’taig do chasan tha mo spiorad
air chorra-bhioda àrd
agus tha pian is luasgan m’aigne
‘nam bras shuaimhneas tàimh
‘S’nad fhaisge tha a’chòmhail
a th’agam rium fhéin
cho dluth rium ri smior mo chridhe
‘s e falbh air binnean céin
Fhuair mi faoisgneachd as’a chochull
a rinn cor mo réis
is dhiùchd barr-gùc m’anama
bho arraban’ na léig
(Translation)
Humility
Sorley MacLean
With you my humility
is equal to my pride
and my submission and my pride
are a permanent laughter-music
Prostrate at your feet
my spirit is on tip-toe
and my mind’s pain and unrest
are an impetuous serene repose
And with you the meeting
that I have with myself
is as near me as my heart’s marrow
when it goes on a far-off peak
I have burst from the husk
which my life’s condition has imposed
and my spirit’s blossom has come
out of distress an adamant
(from O Choille gu Bearradh/From Wood to Ridge, Collected Poems in Gaelic and English, Manchester Carcanet 1989)
Irisleachd
Somhairle Mac Gill-Eain
Mar riutsa tha m’irisleachd
co-ionnan ri m’uaill
Agus tha m’ùmlachd is m’àrdan
‘nan ceòl-gàire buan
Sleuchd’taig do chasan tha mo spiorad
air chorra-bhioda àrd
agus tha pian is luasgan m’aigne
‘nam bras shuaimhneas tàimh
‘S’nad fhaisge tha a’chòmhail
a th’agam rium fhéin
cho dluth rium ri smior mo chridhe
‘s e falbh air binnean céin
Fhuair mi faoisgneachd as’a chochull
a rinn cor mo réis
is dhiùchd barr-gùc m’anama
bho arraban’ na léig
(Translation)
Humility
Sorley MacLean
With you my humility
is equal to my pride
and my submission and my pride
are a permanent laughter-music
Prostrate at your feet
my spirit is on tip-toe
and my mind’s pain and unrest
are an impetuous serene repose
And with you the meeting
that I have with myself
is as near me as my heart’s marrow
when it goes on a far-off peak
I have burst from the husk
which my life’s condition has imposed
and my spirit’s blossom has come
out of distress an adamant
(from O Choille gu Bearradh/From Wood to Ridge, Collected Poems in Gaelic and English, Manchester Carcanet 1989)