Love
Shaun O'Dee
Translated by George Sigerson (1907) · From Bards of the Gael and Gall (1907)
I ne'er believed the story,
Prophetic bard! you sung,
How Vulcan, swart and hoary,
Won Venus fair and young, —
Till I saw the Pearl of Whiteness
By kindred forced to be,
In her robe of snowy brightness,
The bride of Shaun O'Dee!
Nor thought the Spirit holy
A bridal would allow,
Where Mammon spurs them solely
To crown her drooping brow.
"The richest weds the rarest "—
That truth, alas, I see,
Since the sunny pearl and fairest
Is bride to Shaun O'Dee.
Were I like most, ere morrow,
A dire revenge I'd take,
And in his grief and sorrow
My burning anguish slake:
For gloom o'erclouds my lightness,
O woe's my heart to see
That form of snowy whiteness
Embraced by Shaun O'Dee.
Cite this poem
MLA
Anonymous (Irish Gaelic, later). “Shaun O'Dee.” Translated by George Sigerson. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-irish-gaelic/114/.
Chicago
Anonymous (Irish Gaelic, later). “Shaun O'Dee.” Translated by George Sigerson. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-irish-gaelic/114/.
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