| English | Manx | |
|---|---|---|
| I saw the young bride, in her beauty and pride, | Honnick mee Ben y phoosee ayns e aalid as Moyrn, | |
| Bedecked in her snowy array; | Er ny coamrey ooilley ayns giall, | |
| And the bright flush of mantled high on her cheek | She eunys y teihll ren gerjaghey e cree, | |
| And the future look’d blooming and gay: | Va e vanrys cheet syragh ny whail, | |
| And with woman’s devotion she laid her fond heart, | Agh ren ee cur graih, da reddyn y teihll | |
| At the shrine of idolatrous love, | Ta chea myr yn druigh roish yn glorian[1] | |
|
[1] glorian—an unattested word, perhaps a diminutive form of gloyr—‘glory’? (Gloyr-yn-theihll—used by fisherman to avoid saying y ghrian—‘the sun’).
| ||
| And she anchor’d her hopes to this perishing earth, | As yn chree eck va sniemmit lesh cordyn d’ardail, Cordail rish yn yearree eck hene, | |
| By the chain which her tenderness wove, | ||
| But I saw when those heartstrings were bleeding and torn, | Agh honnick mee ee reesht tra va ny coyrdyn shoh brisht, | |
| And the chain had been sever’d in two, | Ayns seaghyn as trimsey v’ee shooyl, | |
| She had changed her white robes for the sables of grief, | Yn coamrey giall, ren ee leah y chaghlaa, | |
| And her bloom for the paleness of wo! | As e aalid ren shymley ersooyl, | |
| But the Healer was there, pouring balm on her heart, | Agh yn fer-lhee va ayns shen, dy gergagh y cree, | |
| And wiping the tears from her eyes, | As glenney dagh jeir veih e sooill, | |
| And he strengthen’d the chain he had broken in twain, | As Sniemmee eh reesht, ny coyrdyn va brish, | |
| And fasten’d it firm to the skies! | As deiyr eh e seaghyn ersooyl, | |
| There had whisper’d a voice — ’twas the voice of her God, | Agh cheayll ee corraa, va’n corraa shen dy hee, | |
| “I love thee—I love thee—pass under the rod!” | Neem’s oo y gherghaghey. Son ta mee Jee. | |
| I saw the young mother in tenderness bend | Agh honnick mee yn voir, lesh chemmey as graih, Jeeaghyn sheesh er yn lhiannoo sy chlean, | |
| O’er the couch of her slumbering boy, | Paagey e veillyn as gra, lesh gennalys cree, | |
| And she kiss’d the soft lips as they murmur’d her name, | Ta’n lhiannoo, yn lhannoo aym pene, | |
| While the dreamer lay smiling in joy. | ||
| O, sweet as a rose-bud encircled with dew, | Myr roseyn y voghrey er ny coodagh lesh druigh | |
| When its fragrance is flung on the air, | As yn viljid oc skeayley sy ayr, | |
| So fresh and so bright to that mother he seem’d, | Cha aalyn as bwaagh v’eh jeeaghyn da’n voyr, | |
| As he lay in his innocence there. | Myr v’eh cadley dy souyr ass danjeyr, | |
| But I saw when she gazed on the same lovely form, | Agh honnick mee ee reesht tra v’ee jeeaghyn er shen, | |
| Pale as marble, and silent, and cold, | V’eh cha treih as cha feayr ayns yn oaie, | |
| But paler and colder her beautiful boy, | Agh ny s’feayr as ny s’trimshagh, v’an skeeal v’ee dy insh, | |
| And the tale of her sorrow was told! | Son y lheid cha daink rieau urree roïe, | |
| Bu the Healer was there who had stricken her heart, | Agh yn Fer-lhee va ayns shen, ren seaghyn nyn gree, | |
| And taken her treasure away, | Ren eh yn lhiannoo y ghoaill huggey hene, | |
| To allure her to Heaven he has placed it on high | Dy hayrn ee dys shen, ghow eh yn lhiannoo dys Jee, | |
| And the mourner will sweetly obey, | Son yinnagh ee geiyrt er dys shen, | |
| There had whisper’d a voice — ’twas the voice of her God, | Agh Cheayll ee corraa, va’n corraa shen dy Hee, Neem’s oo y gerjaghey Son ta me Jee. | |
| “I love thee—I love thee—pass under the rod!” | ||
| For such a thing never happened to her before, | ||
| But the Healer was there, who troubled our hearts, | ||
| He took the child to himself, | ||
| To allure her there, he took the child to God, | ||
| For she would follow him there, | ||
| But she Heard a voice, that voice was of Peace, | ||
| I will console you For I am God. | ||
| I saw too, a father and mother who lean’d | Agh honnick mee neesht, tra v’n ayr as yn voir, | |
| On the arms of a dear gifted son, | Goaill boggey lesh gennalys cree, | |
| And the star in the future grew bright to their gaze, | Tra va’d smooinaght er yn ghloyr, raad va’n | |
| As they saw the proud place he had won; | lhiannoo ersooyl, | |
| Harragh adsyn Myrgeddin dys shen, | ||
| And the fast coming evening of life promis’d fair, And its pathway grew smooth to their feet, | Grian fastyr yn vea ock, va tayrn dys yn sheear, | |
| And the starlight of love glimmer’d bright at the end, | As yn raad va gaase ashaagh dy hooyl, | |
| And the whispers of fancy were sweet. | Yn rollage va leeideil ad, gaase foddey s’gloyroil, | |
| Ayns maynrys veagh ad er yn shooyl, | ||
| And I saw them again, bending low o’er the grave, | Agh honnick mee ad reesht, dy trimshagh jeeaghyn sheese, | |
| Where their hearts’ dearest hope had been laid, | Syn oaie raad va’n callin[2] ec shee, | |
|
[2] The original gives va’n cayllin (without initial lenition).
Callin—‘a body’. Callin is said by Cregeen to be a feminine noun, and the corpus supports this. An alternative reading for cayllin might be caillin—‘a girl, or young woman’, but this is clearly not the intended meaning here. (Cregeen also assigns feminine grammatical gender to caillin, but the there is little supporting evidence for this in the corpus. The Irish and Scottish Gaelic equivalents to caillin; cailín and cailin are treated as gramatically masculine nouns.)
| ||
| And the star had gone down in the darkness of night, | Yn rollage va leeideil ad, hie ayns dorraghys voue, | |
| And the joy from their bosoms had fled. | As seaghyn ghow ghream er nyn gree. | |
| But the Healer was there, and his arms were around, | Agh yn Fer-lhee va ayns shen lane dy hymmey as graih, | |
| And he led them with tenderest care: | Yn Rollage ren ey y yeaghym daue reesht. | |
| And he show’d them a star in the bright upper world,, | V’ee soilshean foddey s’baaie ny honnick ad roie | |
| ’Twas their star shining brilliantly there!, | V’ee leeideil ad dy graigagh dys Creest, | |
| They had each heard a voice, ’twas the voice of their God,, | As cheayll ad corraa va’n corraa shen dy hee | |
| “I love thee—I love thee—pass under the rod!” | Neem’s Shiu y yerjaghey Son ta mee Jee. | |
| W. | ||