This is said to be the oldest Celtic poetry. Amergin was a bard among the mortal heroes who took Ireland from the Tuatha de Danaan. This is the song he sang when he set foot on Ireland to claim it.
There are many translations of this poem from the Gaelic. Many leave out several lines at the beginning or end, and they vary a great deal. Is it a stag of seven tines or a bull of seven battles, for instance? I have looked over several translations and from them made a version to suit myself:
I am a wind upon the sea.
I am a wave upon the shore.
I am the roaring of the wave.
I am a stag of seven tines.
I am a hawk upon a cliff.
I am a tear the Sun lets fall.
I am fairest of all flowers.
I am fiercest of all boars.
I am a salmon in a pool.
I am a pool upon a plain.
I am a mount of poetry.
I am a word of craft.
I am the point of a spear of war.
I am the god that fires the head.Who else knows the secrets of the uncarved tomb?
Who else tells the ages of the Moon?
Who else knows where the Sun descends?
Who calls kine from the Sea King’s house?
Who do the kine of the Sea King smile on?
Who is the host, the god who whets the edge in the festering fort?I am a song upon a spear.
I am enchantment on the wind.
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