This poem is taken from PN Review 118, Volume 24 Number 2, November - December 1997.
After 'The Cave of Gold'The following is based on but not directly translated from a Gaelic poem called The Cave of Gold.
He went into the cave
as into a grave
playing his pipes.
And the green bitch savaged them.
She snapped furiously at the bag
with her sharp teeth, and the music flagged
into the grey prevailing fog.
O the green bitch savaged them.
I shall not return,
shall not return,
though the rash boy should become old bone
though the gauche girl should become old crone
though the moss be in the bagpipes' drone.
I'll not return.
From the green hill the green bitch came.
O was it Nature was its name
...
The page you have requested is restricted to subscribers only. Please enter your username and password and click on 'Continue'.
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 287 issues containing over 11,500 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews, why not subscribe to the website today?
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 287 issues containing over 11,500 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews, why not subscribe to the website today?