Religion

Charms and Invocations: Charms Against Sorrow

by Anonymous (Old Irish) c. 8th–12th century

Translated by Alfred Perceval Graves (1917) · From A Celtic Psaltery (1917)

Religion

A charm whereunto grief must yield--
The Charm of Michael with the Shield.

Charms before which all sorrows fail--
The Palm-branch of Christ and Brigit's Veil.

The charm Christ set for Himself, when the Godhead within Him darkened;
And when He cried from the Cross that His Father no longer hearkened.
When you are bound down by the Cross and night is blackest before you,
A charm that shall lift off sorrow's weight and to joyful hope restore you.
A charm to be said at sunrise when your hands your heart are crushing,
When the eyes are red with weeping and the madness of grief outrushing.
A charm with not even a whisper to spare,
But only the silent prayer.

✦ ✦ ✦

Early Irish charm.

MLA

Anonymous (Old Irish). “Charms and Invocations: Charms Against Sorrow.” Translated by Alfred Perceval Graves. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-irish/130/.

Chicago

Anonymous (Old Irish). “Charms and Invocations: Charms Against Sorrow.” Translated by Alfred Perceval Graves. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-irish/130/.

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