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Writing was introduced to Ireland with Christianity about the year 430 A.D. and so the literary tradition in the Irish language (also called Gaelic) may be one of the oldest literary traditions still continuing in western Europe. Some oral poetry survives from even earlier. The structure of Gaelic civilisation was destroyed by war, 1550 - 1700. After 1700 new forms of poetry were developed in Irish - one was the 'aisling', which dreamed of the return of the kings. Another mixed the old forms, largely syllabic, with the new, based more on the rhythms of speech and the quality of vowel-music. Folk poetry, almost always intended to be sung, came to predominate by 1750. Women as well as men gained a voice and many poems were known all over Gaelic Ireland and Scotland. Themes included a strong sense of place, and politics and the sense of community continued as major subjects. Poets were no longer formally trained in their trade and could not afford to be full-time poets, but were closer to the people and their everyday concerns. "The Rose Of Peace " IF Michael, leader of God's host When Heaven and Hell are met, Looked down on you from Heaven's door-post He would his deeds forget. Brooding no more upon God's wars And all folk seeing him bow down, And God would bid His warfare cease, "The Fiddler of Dooney" For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle, And the merry love to dance: W.B.Yeats |
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