This week in my weekly top Irish poem it is number 81 called “A Cradle Song” by Padraic Colum.
O men from the fields,
Come gently within.“A Cradle Song” first appeared in Padraic Colum’s collection Wild Earth in 1907. It is a lullaby set inside a small country cottage, where the speaker asks the men coming in from the fields to be quiet around a sleeping baby.
The poem works through hush and repetition. The hardship of a poor country cottage is set against the image of the Virgin Mary and her blue mantle, so sleep becomes a kind of shelter and faith softens the hardness of rural life.
Some readers hear a darker note, that the child is not falling asleep but slipping away into Mary’s care. Colum leaves it open, and that is part of why it stays with people. Herbert Hughes set it to music, and 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).
Who was Padraic Colum
Padraic Colum was an Irish poet, dramatist, folklorist and children’s writer, born in County Longford under the name Patrick Colum.
He was one of the founders of The Abbey Theatre in Dublin, and worked with Yeats and Lady Gregory. In 1914 he and his wife Mary left Ireland for America, soon entering New York literary circles.
He has also written a series of books including a play The Land (1905), Wild Earth (1907), The King of Ireland’s Son (1916) a story for children, Dramatic legends (1922), Castle Conquer (1923) (his first novel) and Irish Elegies (1958).
What is the poem “A cradle song” about?
There are many opinions on what the meaning of this poem is. In some respects, people believe the poem/song to be about child mortality in rural Ireland last century, and how the firm faith held by the Irish helped them to cope with the loss of their child.
While others believe that Mary’s “mantle of blue” is simply because the Virgin Mary has, since time immemorial, been associated with the colour blue (as can be seen in practically every artistic depiction of her from every Christian denomination down the centuries).
A simple explanation of the poem is it is about a newborn baby and people returning from a day of work to come and see the baby.
What do you think this famous Irish poem represents? Comment below.
If you enjoyed this Irish poem I send it out weekly to my weekly dose of Irish email newsletter every Friday. You can subscribe here 🙂
Cecilia
Thursday 21st of January 2021
Oh, my, this makes me want to cry, "mavourneen is leaving" for myself they anticipate the death and Our Blessed Mother to drape, wrap and lead to heaven, how sad, my great, great, great grandmother suffered this many times. In one year 4 died, my heart breaks for them and I respect and admire them their strengths and faith so ever much.
Irish Around The World
Friday 22nd of January 2021
Such heartbreak. May they rest in peace ❤️