Faoiseamh a Gheobhadsa/Niwii-aabiziwinge

Máirtín Ó Direáin

Translated from the Irish into Ojibwe & English

Faoiseamh a gheobhadsaNiwii-aabiziwingeSeal beag gairidAjina etaI measc mo dhaoineDago-enewemaganagAr oileán mara,MinisaagamingAg siúl cois cladaighDitibeweyaanMaidin is tráthnónaMegwaa waasezidÓ Luan go SatharnGaawiin ge-anama’aasiiyaanThiar ag baileNingabii’anong Faoiseamh a gheobhadsaNiwii-aabiziwingeSeal beag gairidAjina etaI measc mo dhaoineDago-enewemaganagÓ chrá chroí,BoonigiisaadendamaanÓ bhuairt aigne,BoonibabaamendamaanÓ uaigneas dhuaircBooniniboodewiziyaanÓ chaint ghontachBooniwanaanimiziyaanThiar ag baileNingabii’anong

Solace at Home

I will find SolaceA short while onlyAmong relativesOn a sea islandWalking the stone beachMorning and eveningWhen I am not prayingIn the westI will find SolaceA short while onlyAmong relativesWithout sorrowWithout mind worryWithout lonelinessWithout confusionIn the west

What Sparks Poetry: Read about Margaret Noodin's experience translating this poem

Feature Date

January 25, 2021

Series

Translation, What Sparks Poetry

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Ojibwe & English Translations © 2020 by Margaret Noodin
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission.

Featured Poet

Often called “Ireland’s unacknowledged poet laureate,” Máirtín Ó Direáin (1910–1988) was one of the foremost poets of the Irish language in the 20th century. Born and raised on Inis Mór, the largest of the Aran Islands, he grew up speaking Irish only. He later lived in Galway and Dublin and worked as a civil servant. His poetry often deals with the tension between the rural and the urban, the traditional and the modern, and though deeply rooted in the Gaelic tradition, shows influence from wider European writers.

Photo:
Jens Zorn

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Margaret Noodin received an MFA in Creative Writing and a PhD in English and Linguistics from the University of Minnesota. She is Professor of English and American Indian studies at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where she also serves as the Associate Dean of the Humanities and Director of the Electa Quinney Institute for American Indian Education. She is the author of Bawaajimo: A Dialect of Dreams in Anishinaabe Language and Literature, Weweni and What the Chickadee Knows (Wayne State University Press) which are both bilingual collections of poetry in Anishinaabemowin and English. To hear her work, visit www.ojibwe.net

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Ojibwe.net

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Primary Contributors
Margaret Noodin
Stacie Sheldon
Alphonse Pitawanakwat

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This site represents many things, most of all, it is evidence that Anishinaabemowin is alive and well. One component of a living language is one that is not only spoken fluently, but also used creatively. Unfortunately, Anishinaabemowin is also defined as endangered because we are losing speakers faster than we are gaining them. This is why saving the language has become of utmost importance in many communities — on the rez, in the cities, in schools, in homes, in the lodge; where there are elders who speak the language and where there are none. We have created this cyber space so that the ancient sounds are not lost and can be connected to anyone willing to listen, learn, and labor with us in the effort to maintain Anishinaabemowin. We are humbled by our teachers and those who have preceded us in this work.

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