New URL: http://www.iki.fi/~kartturi/tekstit/winter.txt
 
                      WINTER
 
 
    Scél lem dúib:            I have news for you:
      dordaid dam,            the stag bellows,
    snigid gaim,              winter snows,
      ro fáith sam.           summer has gone.
 
    Gáeth ard úar,            The wind is high and cold,
      ísel grían;             the sun is low;
    gair a rrith,             its course is brief,
      ruirthech rían.         the tide runs high.
 
    Rorúad raith,             The bracken has reddened,
      ro cleth cruth,         its shape has been hidden;
    ro gab gnáth              the wild goose has raised
      giugrann guth.          his customary cry.
 
    ro gab úacht              Cold has caught
      etti én;                the wings of birds;
    aigrid ré --              it is the time of ice --
      é mo scél.              these are my news.
 
 
 
 This famous little poem from the ninth century is the last
 word in compression.
 (From page 98 of "A Golden Treasury of Irish Poetry")

 Another translation from
 http://www.indiana.edu/~smithcj/cjsne109.html

 Winter
 Ireland, from the Liber Hymnorum (11c)
 A gloss of this text, based on the poem Amra Coluim Cille, is
 found in the Irish Liber Hymnorum. The manuscript was copied in
 the 11th century, but internal linguistic evidence indicates that
 it is at least two centuries older. In particular, the text
 contains the poetic technique called dunad, wherein the opening
 words are re-woven into the last line of the poem.

 "Winter has come. The stag bellows; summer has gone. The wind is
 high and cold; the sun low in the sky, short in its course. The
 sea runs string; the bracken is red...now it is usual to hear the
 cry of the barnacle goose. The wings of birds are taken with
 cold; it is the season of ice crystals. "

 
 Is maith líom ag déirigh an bothar leath.