I AM A WIND IN THE SEA I Am A Sea-wave Upon The Land I Am The Sound Of The Sea I Am A Stag Of Seven Combats

I AM A WIND IN THE SEA I am a sea-wave upon the land I am the sound of the sea I am a stag of seven combats I am a hawk on a cliff I am a tear-drop of the sun I am the fairest of flowers I am a boar for valour I am a salmon in a pool I am a lake in a plain I am the excellence of arts I am a spear that wages battle with plunder I am a god who forms subjects for a ruler Who explains the stones of the mountains? Who invokes the ages of the moon? Where lies the setting of the sun? Who bears cattle from the house of Tethra? Who are the cattle of Tethra who laugh? What man, what god, forms weapons? Indeed, then; I invoked a satirist... a satirist of wind. The Book of the Takings of Ireland tells the story of six races that came to the island: the Cessarians, the Partholónians, the Nemedians, the Fir Bolg, the Tuatha Dé Danann, and lastly the Milesians, who were the ancestors of the modern Gaels. According to the legend, the bard Amergin Glúingel, one of the seven sons of Mil, recited this poem as he set his foot upon the land of Ireland for the first time.

The Song of Amergin is the most famous example of old Irish rosc poetry, and its vivid, cryptic imagery has captured imaginations for centuries, inspiring theories, stories, and songs of its own.

(Translation adapted from the Celtic Heroic Age by Koch & Carey)