le Filíocht na nDaoine Táid na réalta ina sheasamh sa spéir an ghrian is an ghealach 'na luí; ta an fharraige táite gan braon is níl téim ag an eala mar bhíodh. Tá an chuaichín i mbarra na ngéag á shíor-rá gur éalaigh sí uaim, stuarín na mbachall mbreá réidh; d'fhág Éire faoi atuirse chruaidh. Trí ní a chím tré an ngrá an peaca, an bás an phian, is m'intinn á insint gach lá m' aigne gur chráidh sí le ciach. A mhaighdean do mhill tú mé im lár, is m'impí óm láimh ortsa aniaar mo leigheas ó na saigheada seo im lár is go bhfaighe tú na grása ó Dhia.

Version by David Marcus. The stars stand up in the sky The sun and the moon are gone The sea has been drained till it's dry And his sway has forsaken the swan. The cookoo on top of the tree Is repeating my lovely one's flight-- My girl of the curls flowing free, She has gone--and I cry in my plight. Three things through love I see: Pain, and death, and sin; And in my mind is torturing me With the sorrow my heart is in. Oh why did I love her at all And why did she wander away-- Ah, my girl, you're the cause of my fall, May the Lord God forgive you some day.

Courtesy of IrishPage.com August 2024
Taisce Duan by Seán McMahon & Jo O'Donoghue pg 190, Poolbeg 1992. Forked River Library 891 621
Background music: Squire Woods Lamentation by Turlough O'Carolan
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