Waddya think; does...

Caith siúl cadránta
Ar shaol, ar bhás,
A mharcach, téigh thar!

Capture...

Cast a cold eye
On life, on death,
Horseman, pass by!

I'd say :

Caith súil fhuaránta
Ar an tsaol, ar an bhás,
A mharcaigh, gabh thart!

Fuarchúiseach, b'fhéidir?

Nach ionann iad, ó thaoibh na céille dó i gcás mar sin?

Ceist mhaith. Ní raibh fuaránta agam. Ach is dóigh liom gur fíor duit.


fuarchúis [ainmfhocal baininscneach den dara díochlaonadh]
fuaire meoin nó aigne, easpa dúthrachta.

fuaránta [aidiacht den tríú díochlaonadh]
fuar, neamhchúiseach; patuar, leamh.

I've always been a big fan of Yeats, and when I stood at his grave in Drumcliffe,I was wondering about two things:
1) How would I translate his epitaph into Irish?
2)Why hadn't his epitaph been translated into Irish a long time ago?
Yeats never wrote in Irish, and I wish he had written his own "Feartlaoi" in Irish, so that I would not have to write it here now:

Caith súil go grinn
Ar an saol;ar an mbás
Téann marcach tharat

Caithfidh gach aon duine a chuid feartlaoi a scríobh roimh ré mar nach mbeadh sí mhíthuiscint ina diaidh sin! Tsk!

The last line needs a second look: what you have written means "a rider passes you"

For "Horseman, pass by" why not consider "A mharcaigh, lean ort." or "A mharcaigh, coinnigh ort." or "A mharcaigh, gabh tharam."

De Bhaldraithe's English-Irish Dictionary has "Pass friend," tiomáin leat.

In Foclóir Gaeilge Béarla, Ó Dónaill has "tiomáin leat," carry on, proceed.

For the last line, my try would be:

A mharcaigh, tiomáin leat!

(Message edited by student on June 29, 2009)

Horseman is singular
Gabh thar=to pass over/by
In context--when you are dead, horseman passes by/ over you!
Abair-"Gabhann marcach tharat" ni/os fearr na/ "Te/ann marcach tharat."???

K.I.S.S.!!

"Horseman, pass by" is a command.

I like students version, but tiomáin has become closely associated with driving a motor vehicle, so most people wouldn't understand it!

After making my attempt above, I did a google search on the term "tiomáin leat" and found this link to a book of Douglas Hyde's plays:

http://books.google.com/books?id=mb9joGwt75oC&pg=PA164&lpg=PA164&dq=%22tiom%C3%A 1in+leat%22&source=bl&ots=xgAMAZyaUv&sig=iFhPj8ppq5SXb82AS-K7Vmb0FvQ&hl=en&ei=ZF FJSqe_KJaJtgfS27yMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7

In the passage contained in the link above, I wonder what kind of car Hyde was referring to when each of the three soldiers separately say "tiomáin leat" - perhaps a Crown Victoria?

My suspicion has been confirmed that the other definitions for tiomáin (a total of 6 others shown in FGB) are now permanently eclipsed by the one that means to drive a car.


(Message edited by student on June 30, 2009)

Sin mar a bhriseann an briosca!

I still think it's an excellent translation, and there is probably enough context to make clear to all but the worst philistine, i.e. fluent readers will get it.

Tiomáin leat! Tá ag éirí go seoigh leat.

Go raibh maith agat a Aonghuis. Taitníonn go mór liom Yeats agus is brea liom a fheartlaoi!

bris an briosca - break the biscuit = break the ice? Ni thuigim.

FRC-GRMA

That's how the cookie crumbles....

Aonghus
"Sin mar a bhriseann an briosca! "
thaithnigh an abairt seo go mór le mo iníon is óige atá thall i Meiriceá!

Bhíomar ag caint ar an ngutháin agus d'úsáid mé an frása...
Dúirt sí liom "oh, crumbling cookies - that great, and it has a b-b instead of a c-c" .. ta sí chun é a úsáid lena cáirde go minic!

eadaoin

Is maith an uaim uaim é, ceart go leor. Is dóigh liom go bhfuil t-léine ag www.gaelshirt.com leis air.

"Horseman, pass by" is a command.

A a chara,GRMA as do cheartúcháin, vis-à-vis an modh ordaitheach…’an chamóg go meata!’ idir “Horseman” agus “pass by.”

An bhfuil “A mharcaigh, gabh thar!” níos fearr leat?

Le meas,

thart nó thairim atá de dhíth. Tá rud in easnamh le "thar"as féin. Thar céard?

thart nó thairim atá de dhíth. Tá rud in easnamh le "thar"as féin. Thar céard?

Go maith! GRMA arís! Bhíodh laethanta saoire go deas agat!!