From: Marjorie Perron [medb@optonline.net]

Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2003 2:36 PM

To: medb1

Subject: Early Irish Poetry

Verse was used in recording Law, History, Geneology/ Lists of Kings and Feast Days. The texts were suitable for memorization. The Filid, who trained for at least 12 years, were the great national poets, and enjoyed special privileges. Some of the historical sagas are lovely poems.

The bards were an inferior class to the filid, and emerged after the Norman Invasion, which caused the decline of the old order of filid. Bards were often attached as court poets to noble houses, where they created poems in honor of family members. The bards also created Occasional poems of joy, grief, piety and pride. These poems, not written for mere instruction, were often quite lyrical. Most of the early lyric poetry was anonymous, or ascribed to fictitious authors.

The earliest surviving poetry,(from the 6th century) consists merely of alliterative groups Rhyme began to appear at the end of the 6th century, but without fixed numbers of stresses of syllables.

Then, in the 7th century, regular rhythm began to appear, often combined with rhyme, and a lyrical note entered Irish poetry. (In sagas and historical passages a rhythmical line without rhyme was used /-/-/--, a form that was conducive to memorization).

Around the 8th century asyllabic count became dominant (possibly in imitation of Latin) In Syllabic poetry there is no regular ictus, and word accent is used only for alliteration and rhyme. This type of poetry survived into the 17th century.

Nature was the content of most of the early lyrical poetry- seeking out. watching and loving nature. The scene is never elaborate or sustained, but a succession of images. They avoid the obvious - the half said thing is dearest.

The earliest poetry survives, for the most part, in fragments. The surviving longer poems are from the 10th to the 12th centuries.

One of the few poems to survive in its entirety, is ³Amra Choluim Chille², written upon the death of the saint in 597. It was written by Dallán Forgaill, the Rith ollamh or ³high poet of Ireland. Its form is reicne dechubaid², 2 or 3 alliterative words followed by a word which does not alliterate²

Ní dísceal duae Néill

Ní ochtat óen maige mór mairg.

Mór deilm ndeiulaing ris ré asneid Colum cen bith cen chill.

The rampart of Niall is not silent. The great sorrow is not the lamentation of a single plain. A great cry hard to endure is the story when you tell that Colum is without life, without a church.

From the 7th or 8th Century

Fégaid úaib,

Sair fothuaid

In muir múaid

Milach

To the northeast

Over the mighty seas

Alive

Adbá rón,

rebach rán

Ro gab lán

Lín ath

The home of seals

Sporting in splendor

Its tide

Is full.