The Sounds of Ireland

One of my very favourite poems about the sounds of Ireland was written by John Montague (1929-2016) who died yesterday. The poem is called Windharp and it always comes to mind when I see the ‘harp’ in the rocks on Garrarus Beach where I spend half my life, either walking with Puppy Stan, swimming or just being me.

Here is the poem and I hope you enjoy it as much I do:


The sounds of Ireland,
that restless whispering
you never get away
from, seeping out of
low bushes and grass,
heatherbells and fern,
wrinkling bog pools,
scraping tree branches,
light hunting cloud,
sound hounding sight,
a hand ceaselessly
combing and stroking
the landscape, till
the valley gleams
like the pile upon
a mountain pony's coat.


Author: socialbridge


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