And then repentance seized upon Aoifé, and she said: ‘Since I am not able to afford you any other relief henceforth, ye shall retain your own speech; and ye shall sing plaintive music, at which the men of the Earth would sleep, and there shall be no music in the world its equal; and ye shall have [retain] your own direction [reason] and dignity [of nature]; and ye shall not be distressed by being in [shapes of] birds;’ and she spoke this lay: —
Aoifé
- Depart from me, O children of Lir,
[Ye] with the white faces, with the stammering Gaedhilg [i. e. but half articulate].
It is a great disgrace to soft youths
To be driven by the rough wind [i. e. as birds].
- Nine hundred years for you upon the tide, —
It was I that sent ye through treachery, —
Until ye shall be upon Inis Gluairé,
Upon the north-west side of red [i. e. red flowering] Erinn.- Advance ye out upon the Maoil,
(It were best for you to be obedient to me;)
Until Lairgnen and Deoch are united;
It is a long time for one to be in pain!- Lir's heart is a husk of gore,
Through many a victorious throw has he cast;
Sickness [i. e. bitterly sad] to me is the groan of the active champion, —
Though it is I that have deserved his anger.