So I let my lazy fingers do the walking through the web instead of hauling my ass over to the UC Berkeley Library to properly look it up in the folklore archives as my professor, Alan Dundes taught me to. Version? Origin? It boils down to a matter of time. You might ask: What's time to a pig? as the punchline to an old joke goes out the door and innuendo.
Anyway, I realized I had the makings of a wee blogín so I posted it here, warts and all—for your esoteric reading pleasure. This is all rather exploratory, in that I'm posting information I've uncovered as I go, but that's how THE IRISH REDHEAD GENE MYTH blog post began: an email that grew in spurts and bits and pieces. I may continue to expand this as I uncover more information or I may abandon it by the side of the road if I lose interest. (Or if I have to go to work—which is very soon!)
AN IRISH BLESSING
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And (may) the rain fall softly on your fields. [may, soft]
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.
A variant for the second line could scan: And a soft wind blow gently on your back. The fourth line needs a "may" added—and the rain falls soft, not softly.
Google has a… well, a field day with the Irish version of that line: Rain fails to gently smooth your field.
That second to last line really clunks: And until we meet again... It's either a fragment and not a line on its own, or something really was lost in translation. So it probably means that the language itself is suspect. Google Translate: And together we met again. That suggests that and if we should ever meet again. Or When we meet again... There's a lot of IF in that line.
Google has a… well, a field day with the Irish version of that line: Rain fails to gently smooth your field.
That second to last line really clunks: And until we meet again... It's either a fragment and not a line on its own, or something really was lost in translation. So it probably means that the language itself is suspect. Google Translate: And together we met again. That suggests that and if we should ever meet again. Or When we meet again... There's a lot of IF in that line.
I found two Irish-Gaelic versions. They were probably re-translated back to the Gaelic from the English that was cobbled from the Gaelic and back again to the Gaelic. Got that? Think of it as a linguistic version of the game telephone tag.
This one sounds best in Irish. (There's another version posted below).
Go n-éirí an bóthar leat.
Go raibh an chóir ghaoithe i gcónaí leat.
Go dtaitní an ghrian go bog bláth ar do chlár éadain,
go gcuire an bháisteach go bog mín ar do ghoirt.
Agus go gcasfar le chéile sinn arís,
go gcoinní Dia i mbosa a láimhe thú
Google Translator's attempt at, well, translation:
Good luck the road with you.
That the wind be always with you.
That the sun shine gently on your program flowerfaces,
Rain fails to gently smooth your field.
And together we met again,
that appointments to hand mbosa God in you
And for the second Irish version Google came up with:
Good luck the road you
The wind was ever at your back
That the sun shine warm on your face
In the rain dtite smoothly on parks
And mbuailimid together again,
Appointments to God in you hand mbos A
Adds a whole new meaning to Poetry is what gets lost in translation. Methinks Google Translator cheated and cribbed lines two and three from English versions but completely lost it on the following lines. Translation is never a straightforward process—especially with poetry. And translating from the Irish—a highly inflected language with complex grammar rules—is harder still.
The popular version we all know and love (not) was probably composed in English; cobbling together bits and pieces of various old Irish blessings lifted from early medieval manuscripts during the rage of the Celtic Twilight.
Good luck the road with you.
That the wind be always with you.
That the sun shine gently on your program flowerfaces,
Rain fails to gently smooth your field.
And together we met again,
that appointments to hand mbosa God in you
And for the second Irish version Google came up with:
Go n-éirí an bóthar leat
Go raibh an ghaoth go brách ag do chúl
Go lonraí an ghrian go te ar d'aghaidh
Go dtite an bháisteach go mín ar do pháirceanna
Agus go mbuailimid le chéile arís,
Go gcoinní Dia i mbos A láimhe thú
Good luck the road you
The wind was ever at your back
That the sun shine warm on your face
In the rain dtite smoothly on parks
And mbuailimid together again,
Appointments to God in you hand mbos A
Adds a whole new meaning to Poetry is what gets lost in translation. Methinks Google Translator cheated and cribbed lines two and three from English versions but completely lost it on the following lines. Translation is never a straightforward process—especially with poetry. And translating from the Irish—a highly inflected language with complex grammar rules—is harder still.
The popular version we all know and love (not) was probably composed in English; cobbling together bits and pieces of various old Irish blessings lifted from early medieval manuscripts during the rage of the Celtic Twilight.
I've always sniffed a rat with the authenticity of the popular version that's plastered on tiles and tea cozies and laden with tawdry illustrations of standard Irish clichés: shamrocks, leprechauns, rainbows and pots o gold. My grannie must've said something derrogatory about the popular version to me because the one we had on our wall was:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back
May you be in heaven a half -hour
Before the Devil knows you're dead.
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back
May you be in heaven a half -hour
Before the Devil knows you're dead.
That last line in Irish is: Go raibh tú leathuair ar Neamh sula mbeadh a fhios ag an diabhal go bhfuil tú marbh.
Another friend of Centa Therea, Stephen Pino, posted one he learned from his Irish mother: "May the road rise to meet you and may you die in bed and be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead." This is eeking closer to the original.
The original Gaelic blessing might have been written in the form of a triad: three lines/phrases—that's the formal poetic art form—sort of like a long-winded Irish haiku. That's how we know the other version is a fake (as it were).
Of course, there are fierce board posts on the mistranslation of that famous first line—on whether or not a road can rise up to meet you—no equal translation is possible. It means success or luck. (My favorite mistranslation of the English: Out of sight, out of mind—in Russian, it became: Invisible lunatics.)
Another friend of Centa Therea, Stephen Pino, posted one he learned from his Irish mother: "May the road rise to meet you and may you die in bed and be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead." This is eeking closer to the original.
The original Gaelic blessing might have been written in the form of a triad: three lines/phrases—that's the formal poetic art form—sort of like a long-winded Irish haiku. That's how we know the other version is a fake (as it were).
Of course, there are fierce board posts on the mistranslation of that famous first line—on whether or not a road can rise up to meet you—no equal translation is possible. It means success or luck. (My favorite mistranslation of the English: Out of sight, out of mind—in Russian, it became: Invisible lunatics.)
I did find this: Go n-éirí leat: Good luck to you. (That things will rise to you). You can see that the verb to rise up is indeed in the original. It conveys how language meaning and intent shifts over the ages.
Since I really didn't mean to write this, I didn't save all my links, but I did visit these sites:
The Daltaí Discussion Board has several threads. Another example: "Go n-éiri an bothar leat" IS the phrase that is mis-translated as "may the road rise up to meet you". The misunderstanding arises because the primary meaning of "éirigh" is to rise or get up. "D'éirigh mé go moch ar maidin" - I got up early in the morning. But "eirigh le", which at first glance would seem like it means "rise with", actually means "succeed". So although the phrase LOOKS like it would mean "may the road rise up with you", it actually means "may you be successful along the road."
A Touch of Gaelic An Ancestry.com appendage, but it has some interesting linguistic bits on that first line.
Irish Gaelic Translator also had this version. But what came first? Chicken or Egg? Probably also a back translation from the English.
Go n-éirí an bóthar leat
Go raibh an ghaoth go brách ag do chúl
Go lonraí an ghrian go te ar d'aghaidh
Go dtite an bháisteach go mín ar do pháirceanna
Agus go mbuailimid le chéile arís,
Go gcoinní Dia i mbos A láimhe thú
Yahoo! Answers has some interesting gleanings.
Island Ireland has many related Irish blessings:
May the rains sweep gentle across your fields,
May the sun warm the land,
May every good seed you have planted bear fruit,
And late summer find you standing in fields of plenty.
May there always be work for your hands to do.
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine on your windowpane.
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
May the frost never afflict your spuds.
May the leaves of your cabbage always be free from worms.
May the crows never pick your haystack.
If you inherit a donkey, may she be in foal.
May the good earth be soft under you
when you rest upon it,
and may it rest easy over you when,
at the last, you lay out under it,
And may it rest so lightly over you
that your soul may be out
from under it quickly,
and up, and off,
And be on its way to God.
May the blessing of the rain be on you—
the soft sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit
so that all the little flowers may spring up,
and shed their sweetness on the air.
May the blessing of the great rains be on you,
may they beat upon your spirit
and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there many a shining pool
where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.
May your day be touched
by a bit of Irish luck,
brightened by a song in your heart,
and warmed by the smiles
of the people you love.
May neighbours respect you,
Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And heaven accept you.
I posted many Irish blessings here in order to show you that there are numerous variations on the form itself. May, or Go (be) + preposition. That which will never be... You really get a sense of the culture—what was important.
See their Irish Toasts page as well. Check out their Irish-English proverbs link. Some are even posted in the Gaelic too. (Hard to find.)
Here's an interesting aside on The Compilation of Triads (and full text here) by John F. Wright. I am still searching for an article on triads in verse. Be patient. Be forewarned. Problem with this link is that all that neo-druid nonsense has to be sifted through in order to find the pearls among the dross.
May the Road Rise Up to Meet You - the story behind the traditional Irish blessing has an interesting take on the symbolism.
Since I really didn't mean to write this, I didn't save all my links, but I did visit these sites:
The Daltaí Discussion Board has several threads. Another example: "Go n-éiri an bothar leat" IS the phrase that is mis-translated as "may the road rise up to meet you". The misunderstanding arises because the primary meaning of "éirigh" is to rise or get up. "D'éirigh mé go moch ar maidin" - I got up early in the morning. But "eirigh le", which at first glance would seem like it means "rise with", actually means "succeed". So although the phrase LOOKS like it would mean "may the road rise up with you", it actually means "may you be successful along the road."
A Touch of Gaelic An Ancestry.com appendage, but it has some interesting linguistic bits on that first line.
Irish Gaelic Translator also had this version. But what came first? Chicken or Egg? Probably also a back translation from the English.
Go n-éirí an bóthar leat
Go raibh an ghaoth go brách ag do chúl
Go lonraí an ghrian go te ar d'aghaidh
Go dtite an bháisteach go mín ar do pháirceanna
Agus go mbuailimid le chéile arís,
Go gcoinní Dia i mbos A láimhe thú
Yahoo! Answers has some interesting gleanings.
Island Ireland has many related Irish blessings:
May the rains sweep gentle across your fields,
May the sun warm the land,
May every good seed you have planted bear fruit,
And late summer find you standing in fields of plenty.
May there always be work for your hands to do.
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine on your windowpane.
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
May the frost never afflict your spuds.
May the leaves of your cabbage always be free from worms.
May the crows never pick your haystack.
If you inherit a donkey, may she be in foal.
May the good earth be soft under you
when you rest upon it,
and may it rest easy over you when,
at the last, you lay out under it,
And may it rest so lightly over you
that your soul may be out
from under it quickly,
and up, and off,
And be on its way to God.
May the blessing of the rain be on you—
the soft sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit
so that all the little flowers may spring up,
and shed their sweetness on the air.
May the blessing of the great rains be on you,
may they beat upon your spirit
and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there many a shining pool
where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.
May your day be touched
by a bit of Irish luck,
brightened by a song in your heart,
and warmed by the smiles
of the people you love.
May neighbours respect you,
Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And heaven accept you.
I posted many Irish blessings here in order to show you that there are numerous variations on the form itself. May, or Go (be) + preposition. That which will never be... You really get a sense of the culture—what was important.
See their Irish Toasts page as well. Check out their Irish-English proverbs link. Some are even posted in the Gaelic too. (Hard to find.)
Here's an interesting aside on The Compilation of Triads (and full text here) by John F. Wright. I am still searching for an article on triads in verse. Be patient. Be forewarned. Problem with this link is that all that neo-druid nonsense has to be sifted through in order to find the pearls among the dross.
The Wiki definition Welsh Triads may be more to the point. "The triad is a rhetorical form whereby objects are grouped together in threes, with a heading indicating the point of likeness. For example, "Three things not easily restrained, the flow of a torrent, the flight of an arrow, and the tongue of a fool"
And a Wiki link to ninth century Irish Triads.
Trí gena ata messu brón:
gen snechta oc legad,
gen do mná frit íar mbith fhir aili lé,
gen chon fhoilmnich.
Three smiles that are worse than sorrow:
the smile of the snow as it melts,
the smile of your wife on you after another man has been with her,
the grin of a hound ready to leap at you. —9th c.
Go n-éirí leat!
And a Wiki link to ninth century Irish Triads.
Trí gena ata messu brón:
gen snechta oc legad,
gen do mná frit íar mbith fhir aili lé,
gen chon fhoilmnich.
Three smiles that are worse than sorrow:
the smile of the snow as it melts,
the smile of your wife on you after another man has been with her,
the grin of a hound ready to leap at you. —9th c.
Go n-éirí leat!
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