My good friend and internet cousin, Alice, recently posted this wonderful poem by Padraic Colum. The words have been haunting me since I read it. I learnt this poem when I was in school and still remember all the word, the imagery is one that I always found amazing now especially as it is very Irish imagery.
An Old Woman of the Roads
by Padraic Colum (1881-1972)
O, to have a little house!
To own the hearth and stool and all!
The heaped up sods upon the fire,
The pile of turf against the wall!
To have a clock with weights and chains
And pendulum swinging up and down!
A dresser filled with shining delph,
Speckled and white and blue and brown!
I could be busy all the day
Clearing and sweeping the hearth and floor,
And fixing on their shelf again
My white and blue and speckled store!
I could be quiet there at night
Beside the fire and by myself,
Sure of a bed and loath to leave
The ticking clock and the shining delph!
Och! but I'm weary of mist and dark
And roads where there's never a house nor bush,
And tired I am of bog and road,
And the crying wind and the lonesome hush!
And I am praying to God on high,
And I am praying Him night and day,
For a little house, a house of my own,
Out of the wind's and the rain's way
When I read it yesterday the first thing I thought of was this painting of my Mothers:
I can imagine the fire burning, the turf piled against the wall, the delph all clean and shiny and the old lady siting there warm and calm inside from the harsh elements of the wind, mist and rain. This was the first painting my Mum did for me and I think it is amazing. What a wonderful gift she has!
Poetry from the childhood seems to be a recurring theme recently with this post on the poetry of Robert Frost "Stopping by woods on a snowy Evening" and listening to my wonderful friend Terry reciting it word for word at the end of Mass.
Thanks Alice for the walk down memory lane!
No comments:
Post a Comment