| Manx | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Bieau as y vodjal roish ny geayee | Swift as the cloud before the wind, | |
| Ta bleain elley’r sheeley rôie; | Another year has sneaked on her way, | |
| Bleain elley cheet — yn vleain shen fo’ee, | Another year coming — that year under her, | |
| Nagh vaak my hooil dy bra: | My eye will never see [again], | |
| Yn ghrian [1] shid cur lesh stiagh y bleain[2], | Yonder sun bringing in the year, | |
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[1] Yn ghrian— ‘The sun’.
The noun grian is almost always considered feminine, as it is here (with lenition after the article in the nominative). Later in the verse the yn ghrian is treated as masculine; e ghoull ‘his beam’, e vreein ‘his heat’.
[2] y blein— ‘the year’. The noun blein is almost always considered feminine, so vlein would be expected after the article – as occurs in the third line.
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| Roish nee e ghoull bleain elley ’rhein, | Before her ray separates another year | |
| Na mee y hiow lesh bioyr e vreein, | Or warms me with the vitality of her heat | |
| Foddyms ve sheeynt fo’n scraa. | I may be lying under the sod. | |
| Yn aegid ghiennal, ’syn niart smoo, | Jovial youth, in greatest might, | |
| Bee ayns yn ooir dy leeh neealloo; | Will soon be unconscious in the earth | |
| Ta’n sumney cheet da ooilliu bieau,- | The summons comes quickly for all - | |
| As ooilliu sheign gansoor. | And all must answer. | |
| Cre whillieen aeg, cha trean as mee, | How many young, as brave as I | |
| Tra ghow’n vleain toshiaght, ard ayns cree, | When the year begins, high in heart, | |
| Ta er nyn droyn lhie feayr ’syn oaie, | Are on lying on their humps, cold in the grave, | |
| Dowin oanluckit ’syn ooir. | Buried deep in the earth. | |
| Oh! lhig da ve my ard charail, | Oh! Let it be my chief purpose, | |
| Lesh credjue, surranse, ash lesh preayll, | With faith, patience and with prayer, | |
| Dy yientyn aynym slane treishteil, | To generate within in me complete trust, | |
| As aarlys son a baase, | And readiness for death, | |
| Myr shen tra veesym êit ersooyl, | So when I am called away, | |
| Ga dy bee’n corp ’sy joan ergooyl, | Although the body will be left behind in the dust, | |
| Nee m’annym beayn ayns soiljey [3] shooyl, | My immortal soul will be walking in the light, | |
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[3] soiljey— ‘light’. Although the more common spelling soilshey is used in the Bible, other writers (particularly Ned Beg Hom Ruy in his own writing) prefer soiljey.
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| As eunys beayn ny ghrayse. | In the eternal rapture of grace. | |
| Nish ta bleain elley’r skirrey chaiee; | Now another year has slid past; | |
| Tappee myr strooan roï my-lheï[4], | Fast like a stream running downhill | |
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[4] my-lheï ‘downhill’ Elsewhere in the corpus my-lheï is found in the compound kione-my-lheï; ‘descent’, ‘downhill’, ‘headlong’, ‘prone’, ‘slope’, ‘steep’, my-laee in kione-my-laee ‘the drooping, or lower end’, and my-lhiee in the the compund gour-my-lhiee ‘adown’, kione-my-lheïe ‘declivity’. Cregeen gives the spelling myla’ee; ‘with the descent, drooping’.
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| Ayns freayn buirroogh byleshey [5] roï | In its roaring flow running | |
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[5] What is byleshey?
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| Sheese gys a faarkey vooar. | Down to the great ocean. | |
| Ah shimmey boggey ta ec kione, | Oh! Many’s the joy now at an end, | |
| As shimmey carrey dooie ’sy joan; | And many’s the dear friend in the dust; | |
| Reabit veih clieu ny moir e cloan, | Her children torn from the mother’s bosom, | |
| Syn ooig dy loouid[6] soor. | In the pit of sour decay | |
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[6] lhoauid— ‘rottenness’.
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| Lhig da’n veggan bleain partoil, | Let the year's remnant depart, | |
| As nee dagh carrey my agail; | And all my friends shall leave me, | |
| Tromechreeagh faagit dy rouail | Heavy-hearted, left to wander | |
| Ayns y coan shoh dy yeir. | In this valley of tears. | |
| Myr biljyn tra ta’n sowrey’r ngholl, | Like trees when the summer has gone, | |
| Lheihll lhag as rooishtagh lesh y ghall [7]; | Lying slack and stripped by the gale, | |
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[7] lesh y ghall— ‘by the gale’. The spelling gal, or gall, is also found in some ballads.
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| Nyn ghuilley scaait dy veegerjoil, | Their leaves unkindly thrown, | |
| Lhie shirgit er y faiyr. | Lie shrivelled on the grass. | |
| Dyn carrey, doort mee, faagit lhome, | Without a friend, I said, left alone, | |
| Dy ymmyrkey yn errey trome? | To carry the heavy burden? | |
| Dagh carrey ayns yn ooig lhie croym? | Every friend lying low in the pit? | |
| Ah siyragh va my raa! | Oh! My words were hasty! | |
| Gow cree, O Hreoltagh, glen dty ghruaie, | Take heart, O Pilgrim, clean your face, | |
| Cur void dty yeir — trog seose dty oïe | Put away your tears, — lift up your face | |
| Dys CHAIRN Y VEA, t’ayns gloyr ny hoie, | To The Lord of Life, who is seated in glory, | |
| Dty charrey beayn as bra. | Your eternal and everlasting friend. | |
| S’feer eh, bea deinagh, faase sheelnaue, | It is true, the weary, weak life of mankind, | |
| Gowys jerr’ayns baase, as vees ny haaue; | Will end in death, and will be idle; | |
| Er dagh nhee heihlt vees jerrey daue | ,For every worldly thing it will be an end for them, | |
| Agh ESHYN baase cha vow! | But HE will not die! | |
| Ersyn traartys cha der sneih; | Destruction will not affect him; | |
| Ga caarjyn marroo ooilliu va, | Although all friends were dead, | |
| E chaarjys slane cooilleenagh ta; | His friendship is completely fufilling; | |
| Dagh coayll jeant seose ayns niau. | Every loss made up for in heaven. | |
| Bleain elley nish, t’er scughey voin; | Another year now, has moved from us; | |
| Bleain elley cheet - eer myr ta tounn | Another year coming - just like a wave | |
| Geiyrt da tounn elley ec e voyn — | Follows another wave at its heel — | |
| Ayns shallid sooilley traiet! | Ebbed away in the twinkling of an eye! | |
| Bleain elley nish ta faagit jeï; — | Another year now left behind; | |
| (Ta’n imraa doostey smooinaght vie:) | (The mention awakes a good thought:) | |
| Shinyn tayrn na snaissey thie, | We, drawing closer to home, | |
| Wheesh jeh nyn dhraa ghiare reait. | So much of our short time cleared. | |
| Er fea my hoiee [8], as frasser’ [9] feayr | In the stillness of the night and cold showers, | |
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[8] my hoiee = ny hoie ?
[9] What is frasser’ ?
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| Ta clag y chashtal dullyr —geyre | The clock of the gloomy castle sharply | |
| Cur raaue da’n ghard dy vel eh seyr, | Warns the guard that he is free, | |
| Yn oor dy arrey roït. | The watch hour run out. | |
| Myr shen lesh boggey feoilt ta’n noo | Thus, with bounteous joy, the saint | |
| Gen’tyn dagh bleain, dy vel ny sloo | Feels every year, that there is | |
| Dy hraa as seaghyn er dy cheau, | Less time and sorrow to be spent | |
| Ayns scaaghyn heihltagh seiyt. | Troubled in worldly shadows. | |
| T’eh wheesh shen sniassey da ’hreishteil, | He is that much closer to his hope, | |
| Da jerrey ’heaghyn as ’huilleil; | To the end of his sorrow and his travails, | |
| Yn raad ta shee as gerjagh reill,- | The place where peace and comfort rules, | |
| Canaan ny flaunys noo. | Canaan of the holy paradise. | |
| Cha vaik rieau sooill, rieau cleaysh cha glenn | No eye will ever see, no ear ever hear | |
| Yn eunys vaanrey sheeant t’ayns shen: | The happy blessed rapture that is there: | |
| Dagh creoighys jerrey goaill ayns gien | Every hardship ends in cheer | |
| Da nagh bee kione ny smoo! | To which there will be no end! | |