Poem of the month - April 2008

Cuairt gu Bogsa nan Litreachan Ach an t-astar aig an robh a’ ghealach a siubhal! Gu deas fo na neòil seachad air Barraigh, àilleagan a’ chuain, ‘s gun sìon a dh’fhios againne gur e sinn fhìn a bha a’ gluasad mar na sgòthan tuath gun sgur, Galileo os cionn Gheàrraidh na Mònadh agus Copernicus anns na speuran ‘s a’ ghaoth an iar a’ sèideadh na uèaraichean-dealain ‘s an litir a’ tuiteam à sealladh. Aonghas Pàdraig Caimbeul

English Translation A Journey to the Letter-box But the speed at which the moon moved! Southwards beneath the clouds beyond Barra shining in the sea, while we had no notion that it was we ourselves who were moving endlessly north, Galileo above Garrynamonie and Copernicus in the sky and the west wind shaking the electricity wires and the letter falling into the darkness. Translated by Angus Peter Campbell from his own Gaelic Poems supplied courtesy of the Scottish Poetry Library

The inspiration for the poem Angus says: 'One of the many blessings of living on a Scottish Island (in my case Skye) are the star-lit nights, unobscured by street-lights. I was recently out posting a letter, when a cloud scudded across the moon, and instantly I was back in the South Uist of my childhood, taking a letter from my father to post in the small letter-box at Trosaraidh. I had no notion then, of course, that it was the earth that was moving, not the moon. The newly set-up telegraph wires whistled in the wind; the letter sank into the darkness: things were eternal.'

About the Poet Angus Peter Campbell (Aonghas Pàdraig Caimbeul) is from South Uist. He is a graduate in Politics and History from the University of Edinburgh. His English teacher at Oban High School was Iain Crichton Smith. He has published 3 Gaelic novels for adults, 5 for children, and 3 collections of poetry. Sorley MacLean said of him "I have no doubts that Angus Peter Campbell is one of the few really significant living poets in Scotland, writing in any language" (West Highland Free Press, October 1992). His latest collection of poetry, Meas air Chrannaibh has been reviewed by Meg Bateman as "a wonderful collection, sumultaneously humorous and profound, evoking between the lines what cannot be put into words - the true test of poetry." He also recieived a Scottish BAFTA Nomination Award for playing the lead role in the Gaelic film Seachd in 2007.