Deireadh dán le Raifteiri - Raftery's Last poem


Sketch of the poet

One of the more certain things about Raftery is the date of his death; this occurred on Christmas eve, 1835. Douglas Hyde relates: There is a man who lives beside the graveyard in which Raftery is buried, and he says that he thinks it was to his house Raftery was heading when he took ill, 'and he had to go in to that house there.' he said. 'Christmas night he died, and that's a sign that he was blessed. At night he was buried, since no work could be done on Christmas Day; however my father and a few of the neighbours collected a little money to buy a coffin, and it was made by a man of the village on St. Stephen's Day;

le Antaine Ó Raifteirí

Tá mé in aois 's do chríon mo bhláth,
Is iomdha lá mé ag dul amú
Do thuit mé i bpeaca anois trá
Ach is le do grásta atá mé ag súil.

 by Críostóir Ó Floinn

I am old now and my flower has wilted
Full many's the time I have gone astray,
I have wallowed in sin a full three days
But it's with God's grace I hope and pray.

Go ndéanfaidh Dia tróchaire ar anam Antoine Raiftearaí agus ar anamnacha na bhfear siúil a mhair lena linn agus tá súil agam go bhfuil siad ar fad í gCnocán Iomhair na bhFlaitheas, áit nach dtuiteann ceo!

Blind Raftery: A bilingual anthology by Críostóir Ó Floinn containing a selection of poems in Irish, with English translations, by the famous blind poet, Anthony Raftery from Mayo (1784-1835). Includes comprehensive introductory essay in English and notes on theme and background of poems.
Críostóir Ó Floinn/Christoir O'Flynn was born in Limerick in 1927. He has published over forty books in English and Irish. His plays have been produced at The Abbey, The Gate, and Damer theatres in Dublin, the Lyric in Belfast, and An Taibhdhearc, Galway.
Courtesy of Jack & Vivian, IrishPage.com 2008
This is a poem for which there is no music, so we've made a substitution.
Replay background music: Lament for second wife


Filleadh go liosta
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