Kasey Ann McPherson
Scáil
Ní file mé ach scáil
a shiúlann trí laethanta
is sráideanna
gan guth, gan teanga.
Mise an leoithne
um thráthnóna séimh is ciúin.
Mise an solas a fhanann
ag deireadh an lae.
Deora báistí a thiteann
gan torann
Ní file mé, ach scáil
ag damhsa ar bhalla
in oíche na tine
ag bailiú rún
Ó d’imigh na focail de mo chroí
gan cheol.
- Caitríona Ní Chléirchín
Shadow
I am not a poet but a shadow
that wanders through days
and streets
without a voice, without a tongue.
I am a gentle breeze
adrift in the quiet evening.
I am the light that remains
At the end of the day.
Teardrops fall
without sound
I am not a poet, but a shadow
quivering on a wall
on the night of the fire
gathering secrets
Since the words left my heart
without music.
-Translated from Irish by Kasey Ann McPherson
Scáil
I am not a poet but a shadow
That travels through days
and streets
Without a voice, without language.
I am a gentle breeze
In the tranquil afternoon
I am the light that waits
at the end of the day
Raindrops that slip down
without sound
I am not a poet, but a shadow
dancing on a wall
on the fire’s night
Collecting secrets
Since the words escaped my heart
Without music
-Translated from Irish by Kasey Ann McPherson
Translator’s Statement
Caitríona Ní Chléirchín, born 1978 in Emyvale, County Monaghan, is an Irish writer. Her first collection, Crithloinnir, published in 2010, won first place in the Oireachtas competition for new writers 2010. Her second collection, An Bhrídeach Sí (2015), won the Michael Hartnett Prize. She is currently a lecturer (Irish-language) at the University of Dublin.
The poem I decided to translate is in her first collection, Crithloinnir. It is called “Scáil” (“Shadow”) and it was published in 2010. From my perspective, it is a poem about her experience of being a poet. The poem has five stanzas, and of those, two are smaller one-sentence stanzas. The three others have 4 line stanzas. There is no apparent rhyme scheme in this poem. It also had many examples of nature, from wind, to raindrops to fire and of course, shadows. All of those details make me feel as though she is describing how being a poet is in her nature, it is deeply rooted in the way in which she lives.
The translation process felt fast and easy for me for a few reasons. One was that a professional translator helped as my translation mentor to get a literal translation of my chosen poem. Another was that the poem was pretty simple. It was not too much length-wise or vocabulary-wise. Third, I liked the poem, and that interest made the whole process more simple and fun. However, this doesn’t mean the process didn’t come with its challenges. It was difficult in a few ways, one being that I don’t know the language at all. A way in which this was helped was during our Zoom meeting when my translation mentor helped connect some things to Spanish, a language I am learning and comprehend quite well. Another challenge was that there were different definitions for some of the same words. This was easily combatted though. Because I had two figurative translations to make, I simply used different words in each translation to better fit their theme. The final challenge was that I didn’t know which feature to focus on for each translation, this was fixed by brainstorming with my teacher Eric. For my first translation, I focused on the overall melancholy and lonely feeling of the poem. My second focused on the personification of the poem: how the poet is a shadow, how the raindrops are moving, how a shadow dances on a wall, etc. Carina del Valle Schorske wrote, “But my first word, they say, was in Spanish: ‘más,’ meaning ‘more,’ which I guess is what I’ve always wanted. I remain childlike and hungry for a world I don’t know how to name.” This quote truly resonates with me, even though this language isn’t Spanish, because it is still a heritage language for me, and before this project I never experienced it in any way. Now that I have seen a bit, I want to learn more. The idea of being “hungry for a world I don’t know how to name” feels extremely accurate to the situation I am in with the Irish language.
Bibliography
D. Egan, Scott, The Struggle and Survival of the Irish Language. 2020
Del Valle Schorske, Carina, Letter of Recommendation: Translation. (2017)
Ní Chléirchín, Caitríona, Scáil. Poetry International, 2010
Wikipedia, Caitríona Ní Chléirchín. 2022
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Kasey is a 14-year-old freshman who goes to Meridian Academy. She enjoys photography, laughing, and watching horror movies, most of which she does while procrastinating. She also loves spending time with her dog and going to the beach.