An Old Woman Of The Roads, By Padraic Colum

This weeks top Irish poem is number 11, “An Old Woman of the Roads” by Padraic Colum.

A lot of people refer to this poem as a simple poem. But you could argue that simplicity is intended, which actually gives more depth to the poem.

This poem will strike a chord with every reader. Padraic writes about the longing for a home and the comforts that come with it, in the voice of the old woman herself. After all, we all need somewhere to live and call home.

This poem is about an old travelling woman going from house to house, back in the early 1900s in Ireland, where very few people had their own house. She always admired the houses she visited, longing and praying to have her own little House someday.

Her dream is a modest one: the peace and safety of her own fireside, and the small ordinary treasures of a kitchen she could call her own.

The poem itself makes you feel for the older woman and wishing that I could buy her that home. It reminds us of how fortunate many of us are today.

Enjoy this incredible Irish poem!

An Old Woman of the Roads

O, to have a little house!

“An Old Woman of the Roads” was first published in Padraic Colum’s Wild Earth in 1907. It is spoken by a homeless woman who walks the roads of rural Ireland, and it is one long wish for a place of her own.

What makes it so moving is how small her dream is. She does not ask for riches, only the plain comforts of a country kitchen and the pride of keeping it in order. Against that warm picture Colum sets the loneliness and hard weather of life on the open road.

The poem ends as a prayer, and its simple rhythm and plain words make it easy to learn by heart. That is one reason it was voted among Ireland’s 100 favourite poems by Irish Times readers in 1999.

You will find the full poem in Padraic Colum’s collection Wild Earth (Maunsel, 1907).