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An Ealan Bhan is a
traditional Irish song. The presence of the Swan is very strong
in Celtic Tradition, being associated with deities like Brighid
who participate in the symbiosis of the healing waters and the
sun. They are associated with music, poetry, love, purity and
the soul. They are shape-shifters, can take human form, and have
mastered the elements of water, earth and air.
Among Druids, the Swan represents the soul,
and in accordance with its death aspect, is associated with the
Festival of Samhain. The swan aids us in traveling to the
Otherworld. Swans are also sacred to Bards, and their skin and
feathers were used to make the tugen, the ceremonial
Bardic Cloak.
Swans appear throughout Irish folklore. An
Otherworldly bird, they are often the disguise of Fairy Women.
At certain times of year, a swan maiden can transform herself
back into a human, such as at Summer Solstice, Beltane or
Samhain, when the veils between the worlds are thin.
The White Swans of the Wilderness were
children of the Tuatha de Danaan, who settled Ireland,
and became the sidhe after the invasion of the
Milesians. |
Lyrics
Sad I
consider my condition
With my
heart engaged with sorrow
From the
very time that I left
The high
bens of the mist
The little
glens of dallaince
Of the
lochans, the bays and the forelands
And the
white swan dwelling there
Whom I daily
pursue.
Maggie,
don't be sad
Love, if I
should die -
Who among
men
Endures
eternally?
We are all
only on a journey
Like flowers
in the deserted cattle fold
That the
year's wind and rain will bring down
And that the
sun cannot raise.
All the
ground around me
Is like hail
in the heavens;
With the
shells exploding -
I am blinded
by smoke:
My ears are
deafened
By the roar
of the cannon;
But despite
the savagery of the moment
My thoughts
are on the girl called MacLeod. |
Crouched in
the trenches
My mind is fixed on you, love;
In sleep I dream of you
I am not fated to survive;
My spirit is filled
With a surfeit of longing
And my hair once so auburn
Is now almost white.
Goodnight to you, love
In your warm, sweet-smelling bed;
May you have peaceful sleep and
afterwards
May you waken healthy and in good
spirits
I am here in the cold trench
With the clamor of death in my ears
With no hope of returning victorious-
The ocean is too wide to swim. |
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