This week, I decided to pick number 100 from the top Irish poems list. The Irish poem is called All Legendary Obstacles by John Montague. John Montague was born in 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Co Tyrone.
I like this poem as it is about John or some person waiting for his lover to return to the train station. John Montague puts his emotions down on paper very well in this poem, and you can almost feel how nervous he was as you read through the poem. Enjoy
All Legendary Obstacles
by John Montague
All legendary obstacles lay between
Us, the long imaginary plain,
The monstrous ruck of mountains
And, swinging across the night,
Flooding the Sacramento, San Joaquin,
The hissing drift of winter rain.
All day I waited, shifting
Nervously from station to bar
As I saw another train sail
By, the San Francisco Chief or
Golden Gate, water dripping
From great flanged wheels.
At midnight you came, pale
Above the negro porter’s lamp.
I was too blind with rain
And doubt to speak, but
Reached from the platform
Until our chilled hands met.
You had been traveling for days
With an old lady, who marked
A neat circle on the glass
With her glove, to watch us
Move into the wet darkness
Kissing, still unable to speak.
I hope you enjoyed this lovely Irish poem. You can subscribe to my weekly dose of Irish here, where I send a new top Irish poem straight to your inbox every week.