Tag Archives: Seasons

Paean for Imbolc

January 31, 2015 Pathematica

Now the daylight starts to flourish;
Now the snowdrops start to rise;
Ewes are heavy with the promise,
Welcomed from the lambent skies.

Autumn saw the days grow shorter;
Winter saw the river freeze;
Birds flew south to unknown quarter
Far beyond the southern seas.

Grain grew scarcer through the dark nights;
Cattle in the byre grew thin;
Barn and woodpile held our fortune;
Hope concealed the fears within.

Storm and blizzard lashed the homestead;
Frost and snowfall wracked the field;
Cold and hunger tried our spirit;—
Braced by love, we would not yield.

Now the morning shares enchantment;
Now the sunrise brings relief;
Soon the birds return from refuge;
Soon the trees return to leaf.

Now young minds foresee new families;
Now young dreams prepare to grow;
Light the Imbolc fires together,
Thankful flames and hearts aglow.

Lyric Poems, Poetry, Sonnets

They will be there

December 30, 2014 Pathematica

Another year is lost to paradise;
Another coach stands ready at the gate.
The hugs and kisses fill the winter's ice
With hopes that health and happiness await.
The horses stamp their feet and shake their heads,
Impatient for the comfort of their stalls;
The guests are wrapped but loath to seek their beds
While still the chatter flows and laughter falls.
The bonds of love reach out across the years,
As friends and families meet and new years start,
And though some faces sadly disappear,
Their smiles remain within the common heart.
Their laughter never fades while others care;
The love of those that loved is always there.

Celtic wheel, Lyric Poems, Poetry

It's that time

December 14, 2014 Pathematica

Wintry scene. Copyright © Isobel Smerdon 2015

Though the nights are long,
Though the frost is strong,
Hear the joyful throng, it's that time.
Greet the longest shadows at the noon stone.

Though the branch is lean,
Scarred where leaves have been,
Still the fir is green, it's that time.
Watch the new year's dawning at the heel stone.

Bless what nature sends;
Kinship never ends;
Celebrate with friends, it's that time.
Feel the fingers warming at the hearth stone.

Days no longer wane;
Last of summer's bane;
Feel the rhythm change, it's that time.
Hope for health and fortune in the rune stone.

Lyric Poems, Poetry

On Pembroke Lane

December 8, 2014 Pathematica

On Pembroke Lane, in autumn rain,
Stark branches crossed the skies.
The leaf lorn trees sighed with the breeze
As memories brimmed my eyes.
The aching heart would play its part
In courting winter's dawn
And I thought the day when my tears might stray
Would never be forsworn.

On Elgin Road, where first it snowed, the winter pressed its hold.
The hoarfrost stood on bark and bud while still my heart was cold.
Though rime would thaw, I never saw the harbingers of spring
And I thought the rain but the taste of pain that the coming year would bring.

On Pembroke Road the blossom owed that spring would stir relief;
The clouds dispersed as May buds burst and trees passed into leaf.
Then, day by day, my heart would weigh less heavy than before
And I prayed the sun would see heartache done as the summer bode once more.

On Raglan Road, where tears first flowed,
The summer laid its balm.
The shadows played where lovers strayed
While walking arm in arm.
The laughter rang as blackbirds sang
From branches high above
And, beneath the lime, I could sense a time
When my heart might bear new love.

Lyric Poems, Poetry

I had a dream

November 17, 2014 Pathematica

The song embrace

I had a dream that summer would not end.
I felt life's stream enfold me like a friend.
I saw the gleam, when love and hope transcend,
In eyes that shone so brightly.

I woke to find the same unyielding world—
Its daily grind, with slings and barbs unfurled
And thoughts entwined where woe and heartbreak swirled
In pain that clung so tightly.

The days passed by and the nights grew long;
The winter came and the freeze held strong;
The nightmares cried that the dream was wrong
But still my heart would keep its song.

The time will come when spring shall fall anew;
The fields will hum with summer passing through;
The pain will numb when hope shall bring me to
The eyes that shone so brightly.

Celtic wheel, Lyric Poems, Poetry

Labour of love

May 28, 2014 Pathematica

Aestival contrafactum to Ceilidh

Under the gruelling break-back load,
The farmer winds slowly along life's road;
The prospect of reaping where love is sowed
Dismisses the obstinate clay.

Burgeoning shoots from the furrows show
The timeless reward of the plough and hoe;
The prospect of harvest where seedlings grow
Dismisses the arduous day.

Then, greeted by corncrakes at soft evenfall,
The land husband stretches and, groaning, stands tall
As the comforting smell of the nurturing soil
Dismisses all thoughts of the strenuous toil.

The last of the sun in the warm evening breeze
Cast nebulous shadows on hedgerows and trees
And the serotine lull of the somnolent earth
Draws joy from the well of an unbroken mirth.

Celtic wheel, Lyric Poems, Poetry

Ceilidh

December 23, 2013 Pathematica

There is a seasonal contrafactum of this song called Labour of Love

Under the lowering winter sky,
The journeyman travels his long way by;
The promise of sanctuary, warm and dry,
Dismisses the withering breeze.

Billowing bundles of breath reveal
The chill in the air as the Vespers peal;
The promise of song and a boisterous reel
Dismisses the imminent freeze.

Then, clearing the meadow, the village appears;
The music and laughter alight on the ears
And the fire in the hearth at the foot of the stack
Dismisses the thought of the long journey back.

The trestles are laden with seasonal fare,
The ceilidh band's playing a spirited air
And the melody beckons, the rhythm enchants,
And all the world's turning in thrall to the dance.

Celtic wheel, Lyric Poems, Poetry

The promise

October 14, 2013 Pathematica

As autumn nights enfold the sky
And cold winds turn to bite,
As swifts and swallows sweeping high
Forsake the dwindling light,
Hold fast to memories of the spring
And all its gentle ways
That, through the winter, we might bring
This song of kinder days.

As unrelenting hoarfrost fills
The hardened winter breeze,
As meadow brooks and mountain rills
Fall silent in the freeze,
Hold fast to memories of the spring
And all its halcyon dreams,
That, through the winter, we might bring
This song of bustling streams.

Though night descends as geimhreadh sends
Its dark unfathomed force,
The wheel will turn and fires will burn
As seasons run their course.

The summer's reign shall dawn anew
To weave its sacred spell;
The carol of the first cuckoo
Will toll the winter's knell.
Hold fast to memories of the spring
And bless the sleeping earth,
That, through the winter, we might bring
This promise of rebirth.

Celtic wheel, Lyric Poems, Poetry

Lughnasadh

June 29, 2013 Pathematica

Celebrate the first of the corn;
The light of heaven fills the sacred morn.
Lughnasadh, see Tailtiu praised,
Our hearts and voices raised.

Dedicate the sheaf at the beinn,
That Tailtiu's vision fill our hearts again.
Lughnasadh, see Tailtiu praised,
Our hearts and voices raised.

Gather, there, the bilberry feast
Exalting the banquet in the light from the east.
Lughnasadh, see Tailtiu praised,
Our hearts and voices raised.

Consecrate the sacred mound,
Sharing the bounty with the hallowed ground.
Lughnasadh, see Tailtiu praised,
Our hearts and voices raised.

Let the Áenach Tailteann stand,
A part of our story in this blessèd land.
Lughnasadh, see Tailtiu praised,
Our hearts and voices raised.

Light the fires, encircle the well
And live every legend that the bards retell.
Lughnasadh, see Tailtiu praised,
Our hearts and voices raised.

Break the fast with lunastain;
The fruit of the barley holds the sun and the rain.
Lughnasadh, see Tailtiu praised,
Our hearts and our voices raised.

Share the joy handfastings bring,
That love shall prosper in an endless ring.
Lughnasadh, see Tailtiu praised,
Our hearts and voices raised.

Celtic wheel, Lyric Poems, Poetry

Imbolc

June 23, 2013 Pathematica

Little green shoots from little white roots,
The snowdrop shakes the valley;
Bearing the chill, the ewe on the hill
Knows stirrings in her belly.

Lowering skies, the Gráinneog lies
Though winter stores be dwindling;
Glorious day, the Cailleach will stray
To gather winter kindling.

Brighid! Oh, Brighid! Oh, come to me
To satisfy this yearning;
Rushes are scattered with welcome prayer,
The Imbolc fire is burning.

Brighid! Oh, Brighid! Oh, welcome day,
The winter storms abating;
Jewels are fastened upon her breast;
Your Brídeóg doll is waiting.

Deep in the gloom, the sloe is in bloom,
And all the world rejoices;
Sealing the fest, the bannock is blest
With grateful hearts and voices.

Circle the well and, under the spell,
The guardian Sidhe are waking;
Turn to the right, as day follows night,
The earrach dawn is breaking.

Lux caelestis, que in omnibus incidit sed paucum illuminat