Éamonn an Chnuic*
Who is there without, hamm’ring hard on my door,
Whose passionate tones my ears implore?
‘Tis I, Éamonn an Chnuic, sorely soaked, cold and pale,
From journey ne’er-ending through mountain and vale.
Ah, beloved and dearest, what I’d not for thee,
If I could in the warmth of thy hearth (but**) disrobed be;
And be set, as dried leaves, by thee ever ablaze,
And my flames (aye) quickly quenched (, too,) by thine own all our days,
For so long have I dwelt out ‘midst hard snows and frost,
Unable to find e’en one man (whom) I could trust;
My sock want for food, and my fields want for seed,
Surely all that was mine has been taken, indeed.
My friends from times former, it grieves me to say,
Will no longer receive my by night or by day;
And so must I sail ‘cross the cruel eastward sea
To where nary a one of my kinsmen there’ll be.
*Translated from Irish Gaelic lyrics, traditionally sung to a beautiful
brooding
melody. The title, which translates literally as “Edmund of the Hill”,
suppos-
edly names the author of the song--a landed Irish gentleman who lost his
estates and become outlawed following defeat in wars with the English in the
late seventeenth century. One accepted pronunciation of “Éamonn an Chnuic”
is approximately “Ã’ mun a Chnew’ik,” with the “Ch” pronounced as a gentle
gutteral.
**Terms in parentheses are to be used when the poem is sung to the traditional
melody, but are to be omitted when the poem is read silently or rendered in
speaking voice.
by Terry Anthoney, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences |