"Those unharnessed runners
from glen to glen!
Nobody tames
that royal blood,
each one aloof
on its rightful summit,
antlered, watchful.
Imagine them,
the stag of high Slieve Felim,
the stag of the steep Fews,
the stag of Duhallow, the stag of Orrey,
the fierce stag of Killarney…"
From Sweeney Astray a version from the Irish by Seamus Heaney
Art: Illustrated Manuscript: Gaston Phoebus, Le Livre de la chasse (Paris, ca. 1407)
Love that leaky shoebox/fountain! I’ve always found the shorthand medieval paintings use quite wonderful.
I know! I love too the way the rocks and cliffs echo the shapes of the stags.
It does look as though some of them have been transformed into rock…. Another thing I’ve thought to read and have not.
Merry Christmas, Midori! <3
Just looking in and finding this lovely poem and the painting. The magical stags.
Celtic magic.
Thanks for stopping by Phyllis — I loved the image the second I saw it! And I am feeling very lonely for my own blog thses days — I’ve been working hard to help launch a wehole bunch of new authors at a friend’s small press — urging them to keep their blogs current…’bout time I followed my own advice!
You’ve inspired me to start a new painting; “The Stag Sweeney”. Love Heaney’s writing!