Mise Éire

For other uses, see Mise Éire (disambiguation).

Mise Éire (pronounced [ˈmʲɪʃə ˈeːɾʲə], Irish for "I [am] Ireland") is a 1912 Irish-language poem by the Irish poet and Republican revolutionary leader Patrick Pearse. In the poem, Pearse personifies Ireland as an old woman whose glory is past and who has been sold by her children.[1] The title of the poem was used as a title for a 1959 documentary film by George Morrison, which dealt with key figures and events in Irish Nationalism between the 1890s and the 1910s, including Pearse himself.[2] A poem of the same name by Eavan Boland was written as a counter to Pearse's poem, and its treatment of Ireland and her children.[3]

In 2016, the poem was translated to song for the score of the PBS documentary series 1916: An Irish Rebellion, curated by the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame. The song, also titled Mise Éire, was composed by Patrick Cassidy and performed by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra with vocals by Sibéal Ní Chasaide.[4][5]

Lyrics

Irish version
(modern spelling) 		English translation
Mise Éire:

Sine mé ná an Chailleach Bhéarra

Mór mo ghlóir:
Mé a rug Cú Chulainn cróga.

Mór mo náir:
Mo chlann féin a dhíol a máthair.

Mór mo phian:
Bithnaimhde do mo shíorchiapadh.

Mór mo bhrón:
D'éag an dream inar chuireas dóchas.

Mise Éire:
Uaigní mé ná an Chailleach Bhéarra.

 I am Ireland:

I am older than the Hag of Beara.

Great my glory:
I who bore brave Cúchulainn.

Great my shame:
My own children that sold their mother.

Great my pain:
My irreconcilable enemy who harrasses me continually.

Great my sorrow:
That crowd, in whom I placed my trust, decayed.

I am Ireland:
I am lonelier than the Hag of Beara.

References

  1. ↑ Foster, Robert Fitzroy (2001). The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland. Oxford University Press. pp. 283–84. ISBN 0-19-289323-8.
  2. ↑ "Mise Éire". The Irish Music Review. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Bourke, Angela (2002). The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing: Irish Women's Writing and Traditions. New York University Press. p. 1295. ISBN 0-8147-9908-6.
  4. ↑ "Young Gaeltacht vocalist brings Pearse poem to life". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Making 1916 An Irish Rebellion - Creative Team". Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Retrieved 26 March 2016.

External links

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