Hailing Brigid
Mighty Brigid, threefold Flame,
My Muse of Fire,
How can I praise You enough?
You are the blaze on the hillside,
The whisper in the well,
The shield of the house.
Your spirit inside us inspires -
Guides the healer’s hand,
The smith’s hammer, the poet’s pen.
You set the cool head aflame with ideas,
Seeds of bright beauty that sprout and grow,
Entwining all the green
And grey and blue of this fragile world.
Bright Arrow of Fire,
Victorious and Gentle One,
When have You not been near me?
I have been a hawk above a cliff,
A hound on the trace, a salmon in a pool.
I have been father, mother, son, daughter,
Infant and aged, dead and alive and neither.
I have made worlds, shaped them, ruined them.
Above and beyond and within,
You have been with me through all of it.
On my left and on my right,
Before and behind me,
Above and below me,
Within and without me,
I am always in the compass of Your glory and grace.
Thrice-shining One,
Beauty of the Upper Airs,
Hearthkeeper and Comforter,
Accept my thanks.
Guide my art, grant me imbas and imagination;
Let me draw compassion from Your well;
Make me sure in the works of my hands.
Light-casting, Triumphant Brigid,
Mighty and gentle,
Nine times hail!