Columcille's Farewell to Aran of the Saints
Farewell from me to Ara's Isle,Her smile is at my heart no more,No more to me the boon is givenWith hosts of heaven to walk her shore.
How far, alas! How far, alas!Have I to pass from Ara's view,To mix with men from Mona's fen,With men from Alba's mountains blue.
O Ara, darling of the West,Ne'er be he blest who loves not thee!O God, cut short her foeman's breath,Let hell and death his portion be.
O Ara, darling of the West,Ne'er be he blest who loves not thee,Herdless and childless may he go,In endless woe his doom to dree.
O Ara, darling of the West,Ne'er be he blest who loves thee not,When angels wing from heaven on high,And leave the sky for this dear spot.
Words in this poem
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- dree v. i.
- To be able to do or endure.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Columcille's Farewell to Aran of the Saints is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poem-Book of the Gael Translations from Irish Gaelic Poetry into English Prose and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #46917; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eleanor Hull, Columcille's Farewell to Aran of the Saints, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/columcille-s-farewell-to-aran-of-the-saints.html, id L11687.
Form and metre
Columcille's Farewell to Aran of the Saints is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A isle · moreA · given · shoreA
- 2 -A-A alas · viewA · fen · blueA
- 3 -A-A west · theeA · breath · beA
- 4 -A-A west · theeA · go · dreeA
- 5 -A-A west · notA · high · spotA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Farewell from me to Ara's Isle, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Her smile is at my heart no more, | 8 | ········ |
| No more to me the boon is given | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| With hosts of heaven to walk her shore. | 8 | ···/···· |
| How far, alas! How far, alas! | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Have I to pass from Ara's view, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To mix with men from Mona's fen, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With men from Alba's mountains blue. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| O Ara, darling of the West, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Ne'er be he blest who loves not thee! | 8 | ········ |
| O God, cut short her foeman's breath, | 8 | ········ |
| Let hell and death his portion be. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O Ara, darling of the West, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Ne'er be he blest who loves not thee, | 8 | ········ |
| Herdless and childless may he go, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In endless woe his doom to dree. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O Ara, darling of the West, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Ne'er be he blest who loves thee not, | 8 | ········ |
| When angels wing from heaven on high, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| And leave the sky for this dear spot. | 8 | ········ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.