MY MAURIA NI MILLEÔN
Will you come where golden furze I mow,
My Mauria ni Milleôn?"
'To bind for you I'd gladly go,
My Bliss on Earth, mine own.
To chapel, too, I would repair,
Though not to aid my soul in prayer,
But just to gazé with rapture where
You stand, mo buchal baun" *
"Will you rove the garden glades with me,
O Flower of Maids, alone?"
"What wondrous scenes therein to see,
My Bliss on Earth, mine own?"
"The apples from green boughs to strike,
To watch the trout leap from the lake,
And caress a pretty cailin ** like
My Mauria ni Milleôn.
"Will you seek with me the dim church aisle,
O Mauria ni Milleôn?"
"What pleasant scenes to see the while,
My Bliss on Earth, mine own?"
"We'd list the chanting voice and prayer
Of foreign pastor preaching there,
O, we'd finish the marriage with my fair
White Flower of Maids alone."
* Mo buchal baun, my fair boy. ** Cailin, maiden.
She sought the dim church aisle with me,
My Bliss on Earth, most fair!
She sought the dim church aisle with me,
O grief! O burning care!
[Original]
I plunged my glittering, keen-edged blade
In the bosom of that loving maid,
Till gushed her heart's blood, warm and red,
Down on the cold ground there.
"Alas! what deed is this you do?
My Bliss on Earth, mo store! *
What woful deed is this you do,
O youth whom I adore?
Ah, spare our child and me, my love,
And the seven lands of earth I'll rove
Ere cause of grief to you I prove
For ever—ever more."
I bore her to the mountain peak,
The Flower of Maids, so lone!
I bore her to the mountain bleak,
My thousand woes, mo vrone. **
I cast my cota *** round her there,
And,'mid the murky mists of air,
I fled with bleeding feet and bare
From Mauria ni Milleon.
—-Anon. Translated by G. Sigerson.
* Mo store, my treasure. ** Mo vrone, my grief.
*** Cota, the long frieze great-coat of the peasantry.