An Irish Blessing
A minute over the west of Ireland — hills in the morning mist, a river opening into a lake, a wet village under a rainbow, a round tower in a green field, a road climbing to the sea, and the cliffs at last light.
The words
May the Irish hills caress you.May her lakes and rivers bless you.May the luck of the Irish enfold you.May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.
May the road rise up to meet you,and the wind be always at your back.May the sun shine warm upon your face,and the rains fall soft upon your fields.And until we meet again,may you be held in the hollow of a kind hand.
What to listen for
A blessing is a poem that wants something for you. Every line here begins with the same small word — may — which is how English asks the world for a kindness rather than demanding one.
Listen for the rhyme running down the first four lines: caress you, bless you, enfold you, behold you. Because the ending sound repeats, the whole thing is easy to carry in your head — which is exactly how blessings like this one travelled for hundreds of years before anyone wrote them down.
The pictures are all weather and land: hills, lakes, rain, roads, sun. Notice that nothing in it is expensive. An Irish blessing wishes you good ground and soft rain and safe travelling, and then it wishes you company again at the end.
Traditional text, long in the public domain. Reading and film made for Planet Neverland.