Storm at Sea

The ascription of this comparatively late poem to an
eighth-century poet, Rumann son of Colman, suggests
that it may be part of a romance that dealt with him.

Tempest on the plain of Lir
Bursts its barriers far and near,
  And upon the rising tide
  Wind and noisy winter ride——
Winter throws a shining spear.

When the wind blows from the east
All the billows seem possessed,
  To the west they storm away
  To the farthest, wildest bay
Where the light turns to its rest.

When the wind is from the north
The fierce and shadowy waves go forth,
  Leaping, snarling at the sky,
  To the southern world they fly
And the confines of the earth.

When the wind is from the west
All the waves that cannot rest
  To the east must thunder on
  Where the bright tree of the sun
Is rooted in the ocean’s breast.

When the wind is from the south
The waves turn to a devil’s broth,
  Crash in foam on Skiddy’s beach,
  For Caladnet’s summit reach,
Batter Limerick’s grey—green mouth.

Ocean’s full! The sea’s in flood,
Beautiful is the ships’ abode;
  In the Bay of the Two Beasts
  The sandy wind in eddies twists,
The rudder holds a shifting road.

Every bay in Ireland booms
When the flood against it comes——
  Winter throws a spear of fire!
  Round Scotland’s shores and by Cantyre
A mountainous surging chaos glooms.

God’s Son of hosts that none can tell
The fury of the storm repel!
  Dread Lord of the sacrament,
  Save me from the wind’s intent,
Spare me from the blast of Hell.


Source: O'Connor, Frank (tr); Kings, Lords, & Commons: An Anthology
from the Irish; 1962; London; Macmillan & Co; p.22