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Kevin J
Unregistered guest Posted From:
| Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 11:46 am: |
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Hi I'm currently doing a web page for a song called "An Irish Blessing" I was wondering if anyone could possibly translate it into it's traditional form? The lyrics from the song are: May the blessing of light be upon you Light on the outside, Light on the inside With God's sunlight shining on you May your heart glow with warmth like a turf fire that welcomes friends and strangers alike May the light of the Lord shine from your eyes Like a candle in the window Welcoming the weary traveler May the blessing of God's soft rain be on you Falling gently on your head, refreshing your soul With the sweetness of little flowers newly blooming May the strength of the winds of Heaven bless you Carrying the rain to wash your spirit clean Sparkling after in the sunlight May the blessing of God's earth be on you And as you walk the roads May you always have a kind word for those you meet May you understand the strength and power of God In a thunderstorm in winter And the quiet beauty of creation In the calm of a Summer sunset And may you come to realize that insignificant as you may seem in this great Universe You are an important part of God's plan May he watch over you and keep you safe from harm The place I got the lyrics from said it's done in the original Irish language, so, hoping they're right Any help would be appreciated as I can't find it anywhere on the net Thanks. |
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 1201 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 02:49 pm: |
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It looks like a composite of some Irish poetry with a certain amount of new age addition. It would take some time (more than I have just now, sorry) to translate back into something worthwhile.
May the blessing of light be upon you Light on the outside, Light on the inside Beannacht an tsolais ort, Solas amuigh, solas istigh With God's sunlight shining on you May your heart glow with warmth like a turf fire that welcomes friends and strangers alike Le grian Dé ag taitneamh ort, go raibh teas i do chroí mar atá i tine móna, a fhailtíonn roimh cairde agus coimhthigh araon. May the light of the Lord shine from your eyes Like a candle in the window Welcoming the weary traveler Go raibh solas an Tiarna ag lonradh i do shúile mar a bheadh coinneal i bhfuinneog ag failtiú roimh an taistealaí traochta Errors and Omissions excepted. To be continued (perhaps) |
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Larry
Member Username: Larry
Post Number: 42 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 06:32 am: |
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As far as I'm aware the words were modified by Phil Coulter, but I could be way out on that. A Aonghuis, I have the greatest respect for your superior Irish but wouldn't "go mbeannaí..." be a closer translation than "beannacht"? Le meas, Larry Ackerman
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 1203 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 06:59 am: |
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I don't think so. It really depends on what "The blessing of light" means. Go mbeannaí an tsolas duit - may the light bless you Beannacht an tsolais ort: the blessing of light on you (a type of blessing) |
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Larry
Member Username: Larry
Post Number: 43 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 07:01 am: |
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Ceart go leor a chara. Go raibh míle maith agat. Larry Ackerman
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 1204 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 07:11 am: |
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Odriscoll
Member Username: Odriscoll
Post Number: 17 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 07:34 am: |
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Roma Downey - as in one of the stars of the television show "Touched by an Angel" ?? |
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Breacban
Member Username: Breacban
Post Number: 77 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 07:45 am: |
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oh dear god. how do you translate that. |
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 1205 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 08:05 am: |
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An ceist é sin, a Bhric Báin? Oh Dear God? -> "Dia linn is uile" a bheadh agamsa! |
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 1206 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 08:08 am: |
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May the blessing of God's soft rain be on you Falling gently on your head, refreshing your soul With the sweetness of little flowers newly blooming Beannacht fearthainn bhog Dé ort, ag titim go séimh ar do cheann, ag cothú d'anam le milseacht bhláthanna bheaga nua oscailte
The more I look at this, the more I think there is no underlying Irish poem. I think it would be more accurate to say "Influenced by Irish nature poetry". It is too whimsical to be genuine... |
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Larry
Member Username: Larry
Post Number: 46 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 08:52 am: |
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Indeed! The penultimate line has echoes of Desiderata. Larry Ackerman
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Larry
Member Username: Larry
Post Number: 47 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Friday, April 01, 2005 - 07:30 am: |
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The refrain in "An Irish Blessing" - A Thiarna, déan trócaire orainn, a Chríost, déan trócaire orainn Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us - translated, I believe, from the Kyrie, is perhaps the reason behind the claim that it was originally written in Irish. Larry Ackerman
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 1223 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Friday, April 01, 2005 - 08:38 am: |
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So it's Greek? ( ) |
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Larry
Member Username: Larry
Post Number: 48 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Friday, April 01, 2005 - 10:36 am: |
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It's all Greek to me, a chara Larry Ackerman
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Pádraig
Member Username: Pádraig
Post Number: 136 Registered: 09-2004
| Posted on Friday, April 01, 2005 - 10:46 am: |
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If I remember correctly, awhile back I asked for a translation of what appears to be the same piece, and Aonghus and Shoe-man obliged with slightly differing renditions. I took what I liked of each and combined them as follows. By the way the English was taken from: "An Irish Blessing: a Photographic Interpretation" by Cyril A Reilly and Renée Travis Reilly (Minneapolis: Winston Press, 1977.) Beannacht Éireannach Go raibh beannacht solais agat -- solas amuigh agus solas istigh. Go dtaitní solas na gréine ort agus go rachfadh sé ido chroí go dti luisnionn sé mar thine mhóna mhór chun go thiocfadh an strainséir chun é fhéin a théamh aige. Go dtaitní solas beannaithe as do dhá shúile cosúil le coinneal in dhá fhuinneoga ti, ag agairar an seachránaí a teacht as an stoirm. Go dtuga tú go síoraí beannú cineálta doibh siúd\a gabhanN tú tharstu ar na boithre. Beannacht na báisti -- an báisteach mhilis bhog chun go d'éirigh bláthanna bheaga go tobann, a go silfidh siad a milseacht san aer. Go raibh beannachtaí yalún ort -- an talmh mhaith mhéith. Go raibh an talamh bog fút nuair suíonn tú air, agus tú tuirseach ag deire an lae. Go luífidh an chre0233 go caoin tharat nuair lúionn tú faoi i ndeireadh na dála. Go luífidh an chré chomh headrom ort i dtreo is go mbeidh d'anam as faoi go mear, agus thuas, amuigh, ar a shlí go Dia. P.S. Regarding beannacht vs. Go mbeannaí, the English version I have reads "May the blessing of light be with you" not "May light bless you." The former which uses blessing as a noun is the subject of the verb to be: "Go raibh" followed by the subject "beannacht." I go with Aonghus' version because it matches the English cited above. (Message edited by pádraig on April 01, 2005) |
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 1225 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Friday, April 01, 2005 - 11:13 am: |
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Something odd seems to have happened to what you posted Pádraig - there are a number of typos in it. It looks familiar though. Níl faic nua faoin ngrian.... |
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Pádraig
Member Username: Pádraig
Post Number: 137 Registered: 09-2004
| Posted on Friday, April 01, 2005 - 11:47 am: |
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I fired it off more quickly than my Irish can tolerate. Are they spelling errors or flagrant grammatical blunders? |
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Aonghus
Member Username: Aonghus
Post Number: 1226 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2005 - 01:37 pm: |
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mostly spelling or spacing (words run together) |
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