“Nach aoibhinn do na héininí a éiríos go hard
‘s bhíos ag ceiliúr lena chéile ar an chraobh amháin,
ní mar sin dom féin is dom chéad míle grá
is fada óna cheile bhíos ár n-éirí gach lá.
Is báine í ná an lile, is deise í ná an sceimh,
is binne í na an veidhlín , ‘s soilsí ná an ghréin;
is fearr ná sin uile a huaislaeacht s a méin,
‘s a Dhé na flaitheasaibh, fuascail dom phein’
I know how the poet feels, how and ever, the translation bit is provided by Seán ó Tuama/Thomas Kinsella,
from An Duanaire (1600-1900), (Published by Foras na Gaeilge).
I am inserting the trans this evening, but a useful thing to do is to try and get the music of the poem (if you have familiarity with gaeilge or related language) and the sense comes soon enough.
The fáda [ó,á,é,í,ú] lengthens the vowel and softens it so o=ó(h), a (ay) = á(h) etcetera. It reminds me a bit of Hebraic pronunciation of vowels with the nikkudum/dagesh system of emphasis but I am not a linguist.
Poethead by Chris Murray 