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  • Leodhas as t-Samhradh
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Leodhas as t-Samhradh

Derick Thomson

An iarmailt cho soilleir tana
mar gum biodh am brat-sgàile air a reubadh
‘s an Cruthadhear ‘na shuidhe am fianuis a shluaigh
aig a’bhuntat ‘s a sgadan,
gun duine ris an dean E altachadh.
‘S iongantach gu bheil iarmailt air an t-saoghal
tha cur cho beag a bhacadh air daoine
sealltainn a-steach dha’n an t-sìorruidheachd;
chan eil feum air feallsanachd
far an dean thu chùis le do phrosbaig.


Derick Thomson

from Plundering the Harp: Collected Poems 1940-1980 (Edinburgh: Macdonald, 1982)

Reproduced by permission of the author.

Tags:

Gaelic islands transcendance Translations

Translations of this Poem

Lewis in Summer

Translator: Derick Thomson


The atmosphere clear and transparent
as though the veil had been rent
and the Creator were sitting in full view of His people
eating potatoes and herring,
with no man to whom He can say grace.
Probably there’s no other sky in the world
that makes it so easy for people
to look in on eternity;
you don’t need philosophy
where you can make do with binoculars.

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Derick Thomson1921 - 2012

No Gaelic poet has had more influence on the generation that followed him than Derick Thomson. As poet, publisher, and editor of the literary quarterly Gairm, Thomson shaped the development of Gaelic writing in the post-war period.
More about Derick Thomson

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