Uilleann those pipes they are that cry out
my bardic heart for me,
and delve historic my blood-deep memories,
as I in mystic interplay
listen to Chieftains’ haunting harmonies.
Fingers singing his strings to my soul,
the cruitire in his playing carries me
to Hill of Tara,
there to hear it plucked primal
and give me eyes to sweep
the ancient landscape round.
Vibrant Fiddle with ringing Tiompan joins
Pennywhistle trilling bright
to dance me joyous
‘long the edge of kills
with rowans lined,
and into greening valleys hazed
with morning’s lifting mists.
Bodhran beating time
and the lilting vocals baritone,
strikes my rhythm Gaelic in these bones
and attunes my lyric heart
to chop of Loch nEathach’s waves
‘gainst clinker hulls and pulling oars.
Cor Anglais and wooden flute caress
my ears with deep and woodland sounds,
then sweeps me the fertile meadows ‘or
with tunes as old as runes once carved
on Celtic Cross where faith abides.
And all this sweet melancholy rises
strong in Irish melodies renewed,
as the new-played ancient music
carries me ancestral
to Armagh.
James Gagiikwe © 2008
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Author notes
Uilleann pipes:Irish 'elbow' Bagpipes
The Chieftains: Irish music group
Cruitire: Irish Harp player
Tiompan: struck dulcimer
Bodhran: goat or sheepskin drum
Lilting: a vocal form that helps set rhythm
Cor Anglais: large oboe
Hill of Tara: ancient Irish royal seat
rowan: mountain ash
kills: lakes
Loch nEathach/Lough Neagh, largest lake in Ireland. Traditional working boats on Lough Neagh include wide-beamed 16–21ft clinker-built, sprit-rigged working boats and smaller flat-bottomed "cots" and "flats". The shallow lake can become very rough.
Comments
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Sure and this is one fine song sung out o' the cave, J.G., a lilting poem that carries this hibernating bard, "ancestral / to Armagh." I'm glad you staggered out for this one. Oldtime Celtic music, although I don't get to listen to it often in the States, is always appealing - a-pealing - to my own ears too. And you've done it a tenderly sweet praise here for the voice of "primal" Ireland and the skill of The Chieftans.
You sent me to the dictionary for "uillean" and "rowan", and I thank you for those. Knowing "rowan", especially, made that 3rd stanza even more melodic for my eyes and ears. The whole tuneful piece is "sweet melancholy" for sure. Nice composing.
Lad
Hope your thesis is coming along as well as this poem. By the way, what's the subject of that thesis?
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