WHAT THOMAS AN BUILE SAID IN A PUB
translated from the Irish by James Stephens

I saw God. Do you doubt it?
Do you dare to doubt it?
I saw the Almighty Man. His hand
Was resting on a mountain, and
He looked upon the World and all about it;
I saw him plainer than you see me now,
You mustn't doubt it.

He was not satisfied;
His look was all dissatisfied.
His beard swung on a wind far out of sight
Behind the world's curve, and there was light
Most fearful from His forehead, and He sighed,
"That star went always wrong, and from the start
I was dissatisfied."

He lifted up his hand
I say he weaved a dreadful hand
Over the spinning Earth. Then I said, "Stay,
You must not strike it, God; I'm in the way
And I will never move from where I stand."
He said, Dear Child, I feared that you were dead."
And stayed his hand.

If you want to know what inspired me to post this poem at Mudcat, look for "God's" contribution to the Little Armalite thread. I believe the original poem was written in the 17th century by Dáibhidh O Bruadair; I'd like to have the Irish (Gaelic) verses as well as Stephen's translation.