Description
In an exhibition of paintings I mounted in 2001, called “Aisling”, I prefaced the catalogue as follows:
“The ‘aisling’ was essentially a vision of a beautiful woman, often in distress, who represented the soul of Ireland. The poet falls asleep in his bed, or by a river, or in a fairy fort, and in his dream sees this vision, and then describes the lady’s attributes in colourful, adjectival language. There then follows, usually, a prophesy of some kind, leaving the poet, and his community, more hopeful for the future…”
Some of these 18th-century poems were quite abstract, like “Réilteann na Spéir-Choinneal gCaomh” (Little Star of the Gentle Sky-Candles) by the poet Seán Clárach Mac Domhnaill. This is my translation of part of it:
O little white-breasted one of the tiny soft gentle lips,
O chief lady of the tribe, most valued and jewel-like,
O little star of the gentle sky-candles,
O soul-mate of the deities, to be sure…
