My Tidings for You

“My tidings for you: the stag bells,
Winter snows, Summer is gone.

Wind high and cold, low the sun,
Short his course, sea running high.

Deep-red the bracken, its shape all gone, The wild goose has raised his wonted cry.

Cold has caught the wings of birds.
Season of ice – these are my tidings.”

– Irish Poem, Translated by Caitlin Matthews