Poetry Thursday: An Aisling

According to showhouse.com, "The aisling, dream or vision, poetry was either amatory or political in which a comely spéirbhean, or sky-woman, appears to the poet in a dream. For instance, in the 10-century Aisling Oneguso, the poet sees a beautiful maiden in a dream, with whom he falls in love and is eventually united.... By the 18th century, although the love-aisling was still in use, the genre was more often devoted to political deliverance where the dream-woman was Ireland personified. "

Here are just the first four stanzas of the aisling I have written. When I finished it, I thought what a nice children's book it would make, with (someone else's) lovely illustrations. Once upon a time I considered myself an aspiring writer, and I've (sadly) been on the receiving end of a nicely written rejection letter. Maybe I'll actually polish up my writer's hat and send query letters to some children's picture book publishers.


How green the hills and blue the sky,
where I lay down and breathed a sigh.
How sweet the scent of clover mown
and fields of flowers overgrown.

How deep the sleep that beckoned me
with promises so deep and free.
How warm the hill where I lay long,
hearing only the summer’s song.

The song fell silent and I woke
as a barefoot nymph in green spoke.
She spoke in words as old as time.
I felt the meaning in their rhyme

She led me to a river blue.
She lifted wings and off we flew.
We saw the whole world wide and green,
and all the oceans in between.

~ photos and poetry by Aisling, July & August 2007, all rights reserved.