Through the winter
With Your mantle
Tightly wrapped against the snow
Calm and gentle,
Beira's captive,
Crowned by candlelight You go.
By the window
With Your mantle
Whitely wrapped around you now
Calm and gentle
Waves' conception,
Crowned by candles on Your brow.
With Your curling
Rings of shining
Soft and golden locks of hair
And your wand, which
Has the whiteness
Of the honey-milk You bear,
And Your staring,
Softly knowing
All that hides from other sight.
I would like to
Walk beside You
In Your purposes tonight.

beannachd leat,
Gilbride


This fallowing information is from Gilbride conserning traditional Gaelic poetry. Due to many language differences between traditional Gealic and English some revisions had to be made, by him, in order for the poetry to make sense.

Somebody mentioned an attempt to write in the classical Gaelic meters, with "inelegant" results. In my experiance, the classical meters, or Da/n Di/reach, were designed in patterns that do not work well in the English language due to various differances between English and Gaelic. To bridge this gap, I have worked out a system called "Strict Verse" (the literal translation of the Gaelic Da/n Di/reach.)Strict Verse is based on and is very similar to the classical Gaelic system, but it has been revised to flow well in English. Here are the rules, in case anyone wants to experiment with Strict Verse-although I warn you, it is extremely difficult-
Basic Rules-
1-each line has a set number of syllables
2-each line rhymes according to a set pattern
3-each line contains at least one ornament (see below)
4-each verse contains a rhyme between the end-word of the third line and a non-end-word in the final line
5-each line scans, in other words the accents sound normal and not clumsy or "off-rhythm" (unlike in Gaelic poetry, where accent is not a factor)
6-ornaments may overlap-in other words, one use of ornament can fulfill the requirements for more than one of these rules.

Ornaments-
1-Whole Rhyme (tune/june)
2-Half-Rhyme (tone/june)
3-Entrance Rhyme-Two words which start with the same first syllable, or with rhyming first syllables
4-Internal Rhyme- rhyme between the end-word in one line and some other word in another line(this term is used differantly than in traditional English-language verse)
5-Interlaced Rhyme- rhyme between two words in different stanzas of a poem.
6-Inlaid Rhyme-rhyme between two words within one line of verse
7-Stumbling Rhyme-when the end-rhyme falls on an accented vowel in one line, and an unaccented vowel in another line
8-Assonance-a correspondence of intial vowel sounds
9-Consonance- a correspondence between initial sounds which are both members of the same Group. The Consonant Groups are- p,b,ph/t,d,th/hard c,k,g,q,ch/soft c,s,sh/f,ph/m,n/l,r/w,u,o.
10-Binding-when the last word of one line is the first word of the next line.

Here are a few Verse Forms in the Strict Verse system-
1-(based on the bardic meter Rannaigheacht Bheag)- seven syllables in each line, and the final word of each line has two syllables. There are at least two ornaments in each line. There are two inlaid rhymes in the second couplet.
2-Blackthorn-(based on the Droighneach meter)-there are between nine and thirteen syllables in each line, two inlaid rhymes in each couplet, and either assonance or consonance in each line.

Finally, here is an example, in one of the other forms which requires seven syllables per line, 2 ornaments per line, and two inlaid rhymes in the second couplet-

Dugald, thane of Dunardry,
Colla's children call you chief.
You have come to claim your name
From the stain of shame and grief.

You may use and disseminate any of this information freely, but please credit it to me. I hope this is usefull.
Gilbride