Lament for Setanta

"Setanta" was inspired by a conversation with a friend and fellow poet, J Evans, who remarked on the difficulty of actually liking Cú Chlainn the man; which led me to consider poor Setanta the boy, and all that was innocent and lost as the legend took over.


Setanta

Setanta! hard syllables of boyhood
matured into Cú Chulainn, soft vowels
sinister in their promise
of war; lovely in their pledge of honour.

Setanta, young man of flawed ability
ran with hounds and stepped lightly
over the heather. Now how the ground
trembles at the approach of the man!

Setanta, did your friends ever mourn you?
regret the impulsive youth, the boy
or were they all too dazzled by the warrior
Cú Chulainn Champion of Ulster?

Setanta, I will shed a tear for you, torn
from the bosum of your family to run across
foreign hills, losing in the chase the lad;
to forge in his stead, the legend.

Geraldine Moorkens Byrne 2006

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