"" (; "The yellow

bittern Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' in Old English; the word "bittern" ...

") is a classic poem in Irish by the poet

Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna (c. 1680 – 1756) was an Irish poet. Biography Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna (?1680-1756) is one of the four most prominent south Ulster and north Leinster poets in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He has ...

. In addition to the conventional end-rhyme, it uses

internal rhyme In poetry, internal rhyme, or middle rhyme, is rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse, or between internal phrases across multiple lines. By contrast, rhyme between line endings is known as end rhyme. Internal rhyme schemes can be denoted ...

("A bhonnán bh''uí'', is é mo léan do l''uí'' / Is do chnámha s''í''nte tar éis do ghrinn") – in the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

all the italicised elements have the same / i/ sound, a technique characteristic of Gaelic poetry of the era. The poem is in the form of a lament for a bittern that died of thirst, but is also a tongue in cheek defence by the poet of his own drinking habit. It has been translated into English by, among others, James Stephens,

Thomas MacDonagh Thomas Stanislaus MacDonagh ( ga, Tomás Anéislis Mac Donnchadha; 1 February 1878 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright, educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising o ...

Thomas Kinsella Thomas Kinsella (4 May 192822 December 2021) was an Irish poet, translator, editor, and publisher. Born outside Dublin, Kinsella attended University College Dublin before entering the civil service. He began publishing poetry in the early 1950s ...

, and

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

. The Irish words have been used as lyrics by the band

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including f ...

on their album ''Crann Ull'' (as ''Bunan Bui'') and the English words (MacDonagh version) on

Cathie Ryan Cathie Ryan is an Irish American singer-songwriter, who has released five CDs and tours steadily with her band performing at festivals, folk clubs, performing arts centers and with symphony orchestras. Known for "her crystalline vocals and ins ...

's album ''The Music Of What Happens'' (1998), and also on Al O'Donnell's album "Ramble Away" (2008). Anne Brigg's song "Bonambuie", from her album ''Sing a Song for You'', is based on the MacDonagh version, though using something close to the original Irish title. ''The Yellow Bittern'' is also the name of a 1917 play about the death of Mac Giolla Ghunna by Daniel Corkery. The version by Thomas MacDonagh is especially notable because in addition to keeping close to the original wording, MacDonagh attempts with considerable success to replicate in English the internal rhyme technique ("His bones are thr''ow''n on a naked st''o''ne / Where he lived al''o''ne like a hermit monk."), and the surreal humour of the Irish version.

Words (Irish original)

A bhonnáin bhuí, is é mo léan do luí, Is do chnámha sínte tar éis do ghrinn, Is chan easba bidh ach díobháil dí a d'fhág i do luí thú ar chúl do chinn. Is measa liom féin ná scrios na Traoi Tú bheith i do luí ar leaca lom', Is nach ndearna tú díth ná dolaidh sa tír, Is nárbh fhearra leat fíon ná uisce poll. A bhonnáin álainn, is é mo mhíle crá thú, Do chúl ar lár amuigh romham sa tslí, Is gurbh iomaí lá a chluininn do ghrág Ar an láib is tú ag ól na dí. Is é an ní a deir cách le do dheartháir Cáthal, Go bhfaighidh sé bás mar siúd, más fíor, Ach ní hamhlaidh atá, siúd an préachán breá Chuaigh in éag ar ball le díth na dí. A bhonnáin óig, is é mo mhíle brón Thú bheith sínte fuar i measc na dtom, Is na luchaí móra ag triall chun do thórraimh, Ag déanamh spóirt agus pléisiúir ann; Is dá gcuirfeá scéala in am faoi mo dhéinse Go raibh tú i ngéibhinn, nó i mbroid fá dheoch, Do bhrisfinn béim duit ar an loch úd Bhéasaigh A fhliuchfadh do bhéal is do chorp isteach. Ní hiad bhur n-éanlaith atá mé ag éagnach, An lon, an smaolach, nó an chorr ghlas, Ach mo bhonnán buí, bhí lán de chroí, Is gur chosúil liom féin é ina ghné is ina dhath. Bhíodh sé go síoraí ag ól na dí, Is deir na daoine go mbímse mar sin seal; Níl aon deor dá bhfaighinn nach ligfinn síos, Ar eagla go bhfaighinnse bás den tart. Is é a d'iarr mo stór orm ligint den ól, Nó nach mbeinnse beo ach seal beag gearr; Ach dúirt mé léithi go dtug sí an bhréag, Is gurbh fhaide mo shaolsa an deoch úd a fháil. Nach bhfaiceann sibh éan an phíobáin réidh A chuaigh in éag den tart ar ball; Is a chomharsain chléibh, fliuchaíg bhur mbéal Óir chan fhaigheann sibh braon i ndiaidh bhur mbáis.

Translations

Version by Thomas MacDonagh

Updated version by Seamus Heaney

Sources

* Robert Welch (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature''. Oxford: the Clarendon Press, 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnan Bui Irish poems Irish literature