Snaoiseabhal
Cuimhneachain ri bonn a cheile
Steach o bhràighe abhainn Ròdhag:
Tobht' is àillte, feannag thaomaidh,
Teist air saothair buinig-beò-shlàint'.
Sàmhchar far am b' àbhaist seanachas,
Dhuinn na shearmon balbh ri leughadh;
Fàsach far am b' àbhaist arbhar
Tarruing dealbh an latha 'n-dè dhuinn.
Abhainn Ghèadaraidh a’ tràghadh
Abhainn Bhàrnaidh làn do dh'ùr-fhuil:
Talamh Shnaoiseabhal fo luachair
Talamh Albainn Nuadh a’ flùradh.
Measgaicht' ann a fead na gaoithe
Saoil an cluinn mi fuaim a’ chàrda,
Brag na beairte, srann na cuibhle,
'S godail naoidheanach a’ phàisde?
Thall fo speuran gorm Alberta,
Sradag laiste fhathast beòthail
Den lasair a shoills' na h-uaisle
Feadh nam bruach air taobh Loch Ròdhag.
A bheil bàigh is blàths ga shiabadh
Sa ghaoith an iar thar an t-sàile
Bho bheairteas na dùthaich chraobhach
Gu glinn an fhraoich tha na fàsaich.
Sibhs' a dh'fhàg na tulaich ghorm seo,
Saoil na lorg sibh rud a b' fheàrr leibh,
Mun do ruith sibh cùrs' ar daonnachd
Thall air faontrath thar an t-sàile?
Translations of this Poem
Snishival
Translator: Bill Innes
Memories crowd one another
Along the braes of River Roag:
Abandoned ruins, hand-tilled fields
Testify to a struggle for survival.
Silence where once was chatter
A mute sermon for us to read;
Desert where once was harvest,
A record to us of yesterday.
River Geatry’s flood abates,
River Barney full of new blood:
As rushes grow on Snishival
Land of Nova Scotia flowers.
Mingled in the wind’s wild whistle
Do I hear the sound of carding,
Rattle of loom, whirr of wheel
And a baby’s innocent prattling?
Under yon blue skies of Alberta
There still glows a living spark
Of the flame that blazed in glory
On the braes around Loch Roag.
Do warmth and love blow
In the west wind o’er the sea
From the richness of the land of trees
To heather glens now deserted?
All you who left these green hills
Did you find a better way
Before your life had run its course
In your wanderings across the sea?
About this poem
Snishival was his parents’ village – virtually deserted at the time of this poem’s composition. It has a particular resonance for the Gaelic diaspora.
