Caoilte

Caoilte is another of the revenant figures who return to an Ireland
where, because of St. Patrick, everything seems to have become
cheapened and diminished. “Osgar,” who is celebrated in “The Praise of
Fionn,” is the son of Oisin and grandson of Fionn, and “Diarmuid,” the
Tristan of Irish legend, is the hero of another poem, “Grania.”

Winter time is bleak, the wind
  Drives the stag from height to height;
Belling at the mountain’s cold
  Untameable he strays tonight.

The old stag of Carran scarce
  Dare sleep within his den,
While the stag of Aughty hears
  Wolves call in every glen.

Long ago Osgar and I
  And Diarmuid heard that cry;
And we listened to the wolves
  As the frosty night went by.

Now the stag that’s filled with sleep
  Lays his lordly side to rest
As if earth had drawn him down
  To the winter’s icy breast.

Though I drowse above the fire
  Many a winter morning drear
My hand was tight about a sword
  A battleaxe or spear.

And though I sleep cold tonight,
  God, I offer thanks to you
And to Christ, the Virgin’s Son,
  For the mighty men I slew.


Source: O'Connor, Frank (tr); Kings, Lords, & Commons: An Anthology
from the Irish; 1962; London; Macmillan & Co; pp.31-32