Cuairt (1943)
Pádraig Ó Broin, composed in Toronto, Ontario
Don’t be impatient, little homeland,
Folded peacefully among quiet hills,
Tilling and milking your cows;
An afternoon playing music,
And drinking a small bit of warm wine.
Ná bí mí-fhoighneach, a bhaile bhig,
Fillte go síothúil i measc ciúinchnocaibh,
Ag rómhar, ‘s ag bleán do choda bó;
Tráthnóinín ag seinm ceoil,
Is ag ól beagán gríosfhíona.
To you - tragedy of your sisters -
That sparkling time will come - too soon:
Count the blessings of your life tonight;
Count your children, your houses, your wine-fields;
And pray for your dead. Pray.
Chugatsa - oidhe do dheirfiúracha -
Tiocfaidh an uair úd drilseach - ró-luath:
Ríomh beannachtaí do bheatha anocht;
Áireamh do pháistí, do thithe, d’fhíonghoirt;
‘S guigh ar do mhairbh. Guigh.
Tomorrow your heroes will fly out from you -
From the Old World, from the New World.
And when they are gone, after them
You will not live again,
Little homeland, henceforth.
Amárach eitleoidh laochra asat -
Ón Oileán Aosta, ón Oileán Úr.
Is nuair a bheidh siadsan imithe, ina ndiaidh
Ní bheidh tusa id bheatha-sa arís,
A bhaile bhig, a choíche.
Adapted from: Ó Broin, Pádraig. 1944. “Cuairt.” Pádraig Ó Broin (J. Patrick Byrne) Papers. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. MS Coll 00247.
For citation, please use: Ó Broin, Pádraig. 1943. “Cuairt.” Ó Dubhghaill, Dónall. 2024. Na Gaeil san Áit Ró-Fhuar. Gaeltacht an Oileáin Úir: www.gaeilge.ca