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Sets The Cool Head Aflame With Smoke?

The two versions of The Song of Amergin differ in the key words and phrases used, which refer to different forms of life and symbolize different things. The overall meaning of the poem, from the perspective of the document, is exploring Amergin claiming himself to be different forces of nature, life cycles, and a creator or guardian figure through the use of repetitive first-person statements.

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Deirdre77
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101 views1 page

Sets The Cool Head Aflame With Smoke?

The two versions of The Song of Amergin differ in the key words and phrases used, which refer to different forms of life and symbolize different things. The overall meaning of the poem, from the perspective of the document, is exploring Amergin claiming himself to be different forces of nature, life cycles, and a creator or guardian figure through the use of repetitive first-person statements.

Uploaded by

Deirdre77
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1. Which are the differences between the two versions of The Song of Amergin given below?

2. Which are the key words in each of them? What forms of life to they refer to? What do they
symbolise?
3. What is the meaning of the poem (in your view)?

I am a stag: of seven times, I am the wind on the sea,

I am a flood: across a plain, I am a wave of the ocean,

I am a wind: on a deep lake, I am the roar of the wave,

I am a tear: the Sun lets fall, I am an ox of seven exiles,

I am a hawk: above the hill, I am a hawk on a cliffe,

I am a thorn: beneath the nail I am a tear of the sun,

I am a wonder: among flowers, I am a turning in a maze,

I am a wizard: who but I I am a boar in valour,

Sets the cool head aflame with smoke? I am a salmon in a pool,

I am a spear: that rears for blood, I am a lake on a plain,

I am a salmon: in a pool, I am a dispensing power,

I am a lure: from paradise, I am a grass-blade in the earth

I am a hill: where poets walk, Subject to decay,

I am a boar: ruthless and red, I am a creative, weaving god

I am a breaker: threatening doom, Who counsels the head.

I am a tide: that drags to death, Who else clears the stones of a mountain?

I am an infant: who but I Who is it who declaims the sun’s rising?

Peeps from the unhewn dolmen arch? Who is better to tell where the sun sets?

I am the womb: of every holt, Who brings cattle from the house of Tethra?

I am the blaze: on every hill Upon whom do the cattle of Tethra smile?

I am the queen: of every hive Who is the ox?

I am the shield: for every head, Who is the weaving god who mends the
thatch of wounds?
I am the grave: of every hope.
The incantation of a spear - the incantation of
(Transl. by Robert Graves)
the wind!

(folk version)

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