Cúl an Tí Lyrics

Cul an Ti

Ta Tir na nOg ar chul an ti,

Tir alainn trina chéile,

Lucht cheithre chos ag suil na sli,

Gan broga orthu na leine,

Gan Bearla acu na Gaeilge.

Ach fasann cloca ar gach droim,

Sa tir seo trina cheile,

Is labhartar teanga ar chul a’ti,

Nar thuig aon fhear ach Aesop,

Is ta se siud sa chre anois.

Ta cearca ann is al sicin,

Is lacha righin mhothaolach,

Is gadhar mor dubh mar namhaid sa tir,

Ag drannadh le gach einne,

Is cat ag cru na greine.

Sa chuinne thiar ta banc dramhail,

Is iontaisi an staoil ann,

Coinnleoir, bucali, seanhata tui,

Is trumpa balbh neata,

Is citeal ban mar ghé ann.

Is ann a thagann tinceiri,

Go naofa, trina cheile,

Ta gaol acu le cul a’ ti,

Is bid ag iarraidh deirce

Ar chul gach ti in Eirinn.

Ba mhaith liom bheith ar chul a’ti

Sa doircheacht go deanach

Go bhfeicinn ann ar cuairt gealai

An t-ollaimhin sin Aesop

Is e in phuca leannta.

The Back of the House

At the back of the house is the land of youth,

A jumbled beautiful space among,

The farmyard beasts, unclothed, unshod,

Nor knowing the Irish or English tongue,

Walking the way.

Yet each one grows an ample cloak,

Where chaos is the heart of rule,

And in that land the language spoke

Was taught of old in Aesop’s school,

Long passed away.

Some hens are here, a chicken clutch,

A simple duck, though fixed of mind,

A big black dog with wicked looks

Barking loud like a good watch-hound,

A cat sun-baking;

There, a heap of bric-a-brac,

The cast-off treasure stuff of life,

A candlestick, buckles, an old straw hat,

A bugle quiet, and a kettle white,

Like a goose waking.

Here the tinkers come uncouth,

Blessing generously all they see,

Feeling at home in the land of youth,

Seeking cast-off things for free,

All over Ireland.

I would go back in the dead of night,

The treasure gilded in the moonbeams’ reach,

Perhaps to see in the eerie light,

The child-wise Aesop’s phantom teach,

His ghostly learning.