From
Sweeney Astray
A version from the Irish
81 Enna went back and told Moling that Sweeney had been killed by his swineherd Mongan. Immediately, Moling and his community came along to where Sweeney lay and Sweeney repented and made his confession to Moling. He received Christ's body and thanked God for having received it and after that was anointed by the clerics.
83 Sweeney:
There was a time when I preferred
the turtle dove's soft jubilation
as it flitted round a pool
to the murmur of conversation.
There was a time when I preferred
the blackbird singing on the hill
and the stag loud against the storm
to the clinking tongue of this bell.
There was a time when I preferred
the mountain grouse crying at dawn
to the voice and closeness
of a beautiful woman.
There was a time when I preferred
wolf-packs yelping and howling
to the sheepish voice of a cleric
bleating out plainsong.
You are welcome to pledge healths
and carouse in your drinking dens;
I will dip and steal water
from a well with an open palm.
You are welcome to that cloistered hush
of your student's conversation;
I will study the pure chant
of hounds baying in Glen Bolcain.
You are welcome to your salt meat
and fresh meat in feasting houses;
I will live content elsewhere
on tufts of green watercress.
The herd's sharp spear wounded me
and passed clean through my body;
Ah Christ, who disposed all things, why
was I not killed at Moira?
Of all the innocent lairs I made
the length and breadth of Ireland
I remember an open bed
above the lough in Mourne.
Of all the innocent lairs I made
the length and breadth of Ireland
I remember bedding down
above the wood in Glen Bolcain.
To You, Christ, I give thanks
for your body in communion.
Whatever evil I have done
in this world, I repent.
Seamus Heaney
Do you hear the 'double note of relish and penitence'?
I am reminded of the James Stewart character in Shenandoah saying grace.
Sweeney Astray
A version from the Irish
81 Enna went back and told Moling that Sweeney had been killed by his swineherd Mongan. Immediately, Moling and his community came along to where Sweeney lay and Sweeney repented and made his confession to Moling. He received Christ's body and thanked God for having received it and after that was anointed by the clerics.
83 Sweeney:
There was a time when I preferred
the turtle dove's soft jubilation
as it flitted round a pool
to the murmur of conversation.
There was a time when I preferred
the blackbird singing on the hill
and the stag loud against the storm
to the clinking tongue of this bell.
There was a time when I preferred
the mountain grouse crying at dawn
to the voice and closeness
of a beautiful woman.
There was a time when I preferred
wolf-packs yelping and howling
to the sheepish voice of a cleric
bleating out plainsong.
You are welcome to pledge healths
and carouse in your drinking dens;
I will dip and steal water
from a well with an open palm.
You are welcome to that cloistered hush
of your student's conversation;
I will study the pure chant
of hounds baying in Glen Bolcain.
You are welcome to your salt meat
and fresh meat in feasting houses;
I will live content elsewhere
on tufts of green watercress.
The herd's sharp spear wounded me
and passed clean through my body;
Ah Christ, who disposed all things, why
was I not killed at Moira?
Of all the innocent lairs I made
the length and breadth of Ireland
I remember an open bed
above the lough in Mourne.
Of all the innocent lairs I made
the length and breadth of Ireland
I remember bedding down
above the wood in Glen Bolcain.
To You, Christ, I give thanks
for your body in communion.
Whatever evil I have done
in this world, I repent.
Seamus Heaney
Do you hear the 'double note of relish and penitence'?
I am reminded of the James Stewart character in Shenandoah saying grace.
Comment