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The Battle Hymn of Amergin

translated from the Old Irish by Paul Muldoon

I am a sea squall coming out of nowhere
I am a rogue wave wrecking the joint
I am the surf that breaks with surf-bellows and -blares
I am a stag of seven sticking points
I am a dewdrop clasping the sun in its orb
I am a falcon hang-gliding over the cliff
I am the heartiest of healing herbs
I am a boar that is still battle-stiff
I am a salmon in a plunge pool
I am a lake bringing things to a new level
I am unparalleled not only in poetry school
but the crafts in which others are thought to revel
I am a spear that booty-blazes
I am the god who starts a fire in the head
I am the one who sheds
light on those who rally round a stone-capped tomb
The one who shows the moon’s phases
Who knows why the sun no longer works the room

 


 

The Song of Amergin

 

Ic tabairt a choisse dessi i nHerind asbert Amairgen Glúngel mac Miled in laídseo sís.

1. Am gáeth i mmuir. ar domni.
2. Am tond trethan i tír.
3. Am fúaim mara.
4. Am dam secht ndírend.
5. Am séig i n-aill.
6. Am dér gréne.
7. Am caín lubai.
8. Am torc ar gail.
9. Am hé i llind.
10. Am loch i mmaig
11. Am briandai.
12. Am bri danae.
13. Am gai i fodb. feras feochtu.
14. Am dé delbas do chind codnu.
15. Coiche nod gleith clochur slébe.
16. Cia on cotagair aesa éscai
17. Cia dú i llaig funiud grene.

Copyright © 2026 by Amergin Glúingel, translated by Paul Muldoon. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 29, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets.

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Amergin Glúingel

Amergin Glúingel
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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About Poem-a-Day

Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. Maya C. Popa is the Guest Editor for September. Read or listen to a Q&A with Maya about her curatorial process, and learn more about the 2026 Guest Editors. Support Poem-a-Day.  

If you have any questions about Poem-a-Day, visit our Poem-a-Day FAQ.

Previous Poems

Title Author Date
Thanksgiving Letter from Harry Carl Dennis 04/29/2007
In Michael Robins's class minus one Bob Hicok 04/29/2007
Psalm Terri Ford 04/28/2007
Apples Grace Schulman 04/27/2007
Appeal to the Grammarians Paul Violi 04/26/2007
Thing Rae Armantrout 04/24/2007
The Baby Kate Northrop 04/24/2007
In the old days a poet once said Ko Un 04/22/2007
Consider the Hands that Write This Letter Aracelis Girmay 04/22/2007
Concordance [Working backward in sleep] Mei-mei Berssenbrugge 04/21/2007

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