t h e  g r e a t  b o o k  o f  g a e l i c

a n  l e a b h a r  m ò r

Ealaíontóir / Artist: Alasdair Gray
Peannaire / Calligrapher: Alasdair Gray
Aistritheoir / Translator: Kuno Meyer
Ainmníodh ag / Nominator: Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill

Is scíth mo chrob ón scríbainn;

Ní dígainn mo glés géroll;

Sceithid penn – gulban caelda –

Dig ndaelda do dub glégorm.

Bruinnid srúaim n-ecna ndedairn

As mo láim degduinn desmais;

Doirtid a dig for duilinn

Do dub in chuilinn chnesglais.

Sínim mo phenn mbec mbraenach

Tar aenach lebar lígoll

Cen scor fri selba ségonn,

Dían scíth mo chrob ón scríbonn.

My hand is weary with writing,

My sharp quill is not steady,

My slender-beaked pen jets forth

A black draught of shining dark-blue ink.

A stream of wisdom of blessèd God

Springs from my fair-brown shapely hand:

On the page it squirts its draught

Of ink of the green-skinned holly.

My little dripping pen travels

Across the plain of shining books,

Without ceasing for the wealth of the great―

Whence my hand is weary with writing.