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Girl of the red-gold hair

Sorley MacLean / Somhairle MacGillEain

Girl of the red-gold hair,
far from you, o love, my aim;
girl of the red-gold hair,
far from you my sorrow.

Tonight on the Sound of Raasay
my hand is on the helm,
listlessly the wind shakes the sail,
my heart is dumb, aching for your music,
today and tomorrow indifferent to my expectation.

Grey is the mist that creeps over Dun Caan,
fretful the coarse moor grass and bog cotton,
the west wind touches the surface of the sea,
my hopes are gone, gloom overshadows me.

A white cleft to the bottom of the wave,
the wind skirls round the tip of the mast,
but let it blow, I am indifferent
to a battle awakening on a bare sea.

Girl of the red-gold hair,
far from you, o love, my aim,
girl of the red-gold hair,
very far from you my sorrow.


Sorley MacLean / Somhairle MacGillEain

Tags:

English Gaelic islands sailing ships and boats SQA Higher texts unrequited love
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Sorley MacLean / Somhairle MacGillEain1911 - 1996

Sorley MacLean's mastery of his chosen medium and his engagement with the European poetic tradition and European politics make him one of the major Scottish poets of the modern era.
More about Sorley MacLean / Somhairle MacGillEain

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