142. I Am Raferty by Douglas Hyde. Colum, Padraic. 1922. Anthology of Irish Verse

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Padraic Colum (1881–1972). Anthology of Irish Verse. 1922.

142. I Am Raferty

By Douglas Hyde (Translated)


I AM Raferty the Poet
Full of hope and love,
With eyes that have no light,
With gentleness that has no misery.

Going west upon my pilgrimage	5
By the light of my heart,
Feeble and tired
To the end of my road.

Behold me now,
And my face to the wall,	10
A-playing music
Unto empty pockets.

Raferty, a Connacht peasant poet, while at some festivity, heard someone asking who he was. He was then blind and a fiddler. Turning around he made this perfect utterance. Raftery died in 1835. His poems have been collected, edited and translated by Dr. Douglas Hyde.

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