"Pangur Ban"
About this episode
The episode features a reading of the Old Irish poem 'Pangur Ban' and discusses its historical context and translation.
Today’s poem, translated by Robin Flowers, was originally written in Old Irish inside an 8th-century scribe’s copy of St. Paul’s epistles. However, it reveals its anonymous author to be anything but a bored and disinterested grunt. Happy reading. N.B. Here is a wonderful reading of the poem in Old Irish. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Topics covered
- Old Irish poetry
- translation
- historical literature
- anonymous authorship
- scribing
Keywords
- Pangur Ban
- Old Irish
- poem
- Robin Flowers
- 8th century
- St. Paul’s epistles
- translation
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Pangur Ban, St. Paul’s epistles
More episodes of The Daily Poem
- A. R. Ammons' "Poetics"
- from Malcolm Guite's "Galahad and the Grail"
- Norman Maccaig's "Interruption to a Journey"
- James Joyce's "On the Beach at Fontana"
- Edward Rowland Sill's "The Fool's Prayer"
- Ellis Parker Butler's "The Final Tax"
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Daily Poem podcast page.