Ní haingil atá romham ná soilse an tslua,
ná cór na naomh ag canadh os cionn na cré,
ach seomra feithimh fuar is cléireach crom,
is leabhar mór ar oscailt ar an mbord roimh ré.
Ní fhéachann sé aníos, is ní ghlaonn sé m’ainm,
ach scríobhann go mall gach ní atá le rá;
níl fearg ná trua sa pheann atá ina láimh,
níl ann ach an t-ord, is an oíche ag titim ámh.
Tá scuaine fhada romham de na mairbh bhalbha,
‘na suí go ciúin faoi lampa nach múchtar go deo;
ní aithním aon duine, is ní labhraíonn siad focal,
níl le clos ach an clog is a bhuille beo.
Ach ní mheáitear an t-ualach, is ní dhaortar an duine,
dúntar an leabhar go mall, is ní chloistear glór;
níor cailleadh aon iarracht, aon lá, aon anáil dá raibh,
níl ann ach malairt chrutha — tá gach ní fós beo.
English Translation
There are no angels before me, no lights of the host,
no choir of saints singing over the clay,
but a cold waiting-room and a clerk bent low,
and a great book lying open on the desk already.
He does not look up, nor call out my name,
but writes, slowly, all that there is to say;
there is no anger in the pen, no pity in the hand,
nothing but the order of it, and the night coming down.
There is a long line of the silent dead before me,
seated under a lamp that is never quenched;
I know none of them, and not a word passes,
and there is nothing to hear but the clock, and the beat of it living.
But the burden is not weighed, and no one is cast out;
the book is closed, slowly, and no voice is heard;
nothing was lost — not one effort, not one day, not one breath that was ever drawn —
but only the form of it changed; and all of it, all of it, living still.
Suno Prompt
If you try to get this poem as a song using Suno, you can see the limits of A.I. creativity.
Track
Title
Malairt Chrutha
Style of Music
haunting traditional Irish sean-nós ballad, sparse acoustic guitar, low bodhrán heartbeat, solitary uilleann pipes; austere and still, melancholy resolving to a weightless calm — the lift is cold and clear, not warm; unadorned emotive vocals
Lyrics
[Instrumental Intro]
(Slow, sparse acoustic guitar and a soft bodhrán heartbeat)
[Verse 1]
Ní haingil atá romham ná soilse an tslua,
Ná cór na naomh ag canadh os cionn na cré,
Ach seomra feithimh fuar is cléireach crom,
Is leabhar mór ar oscailt ar an mbord roimh ré.
[Verse 2]
Ní fhéachann sé aníos, is ní ghlaonn sé m’ainm,
Ach scríobhann go mall gach ní atá le rá;
Níl fearg ná trua sa pheann atá ina láimh,
Níl ann ach an t-ord, is an oíche ag titim ámh.
[Verse 3]
Tá scuaine fhada romham de na mairbh bhalbha,
‘Na suí go ciúin faoi lampa nach múchtar go deo;
Ní aithním aon duine, is ní labhraíonn siad focal,
Níl le clos ach an clog is a bhuille beo.
[Chorus]
Ach ní mheáitear an t-ualach, is ní dhaortar an duine,
Dúntar an leabhar go mall, gan ghuth, gan ghlór;
Níor cailleadh aon iarracht, aon lá, aon anáil dá raibh,
Níl ann ach malairt chrutha — tá gach ní fós beo.
Tá gach ní fós beo.
[Instrumental Break]
(Uilleann pipes enter, thin and clear — no swell, no warmth)
[Chorus]
Ach ní mheáitear an t-ualach, is ní dhaortar an duine,
Dúntar an leabhar go mall, gan ghuth, gan ghlór;
Níor cailleadh aon iarracht, aon lá, aon anáil dá raibh,
Níl ann ach malairt chrutha — tá gach ní fós beo.
Tá gach ní fós beo.
[Outro]
Níl ann ach malairt chrutha…
Níl ann ach malairt chrutha…
Tá gach ní fós beo.
(Fade out on a single fading heartbeat drum)
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