Subh Mhilis (and my sweet jam translation)

A beautiful, simple Irish poem by Seamas O’Neill (1910-1981) that I learned at school (taken from Favourite Poems We Learned In School As Gaeilge, compiled by Thomas F. Walsh, Mercier Press 1994):

Subh Mhilis

Bhí subh mhilis
Ar bhoschrann an dorais,
Ach mhúch me an corraí
Ionam a d’éirigh,

Mar smaoinigh mé ar an lá
A bheas an bhoschrann glan,
Agus an lámh bheag
Ar iarraidh.

And here’s my doesn’t-do-it-justice translation:

Jam

There was jam
on the door handle
but I held back the anger
that was beginning to rise

because I thought of the day
when the door handle would be clean
and the little hand
gone away.

&copy Jennifer Liston 2002