Is this foolishness?
An e faoineas a tha seo?
Let's have a look at this discussion. By the end of this section, you will have learned some valuable phrases that you can use in lots of different conversations.
An e faoineas a tha seo? An e faoineas a th' ann a bhith a' bruidhinn mu bhàird is mu bhàrdachd mar seo?
Is this pointless [foolish]? Is it daft to talk about poets and poetry like this?
Chan eil dad faoin mu bhàrdachd. Sin aon de na dòighean as cruthachaile suidheachadh mac an duine fhoillseachadh.
There is nothing foolish about poetry. That is one of the most creative ways to express the human condition.
Nach gabh sinn ceum air adhart chun na linne againne, ma-thà?
Let's [Why not / Won’t we] take a step forward to our time/century, then?
An e siud am ficheadamh linn no an t-aona linn fichead?
Is that the twentieth century or the twenty-first century?
Chì sinn! Thàinig atharrachadh air saoghal na Gàidhlig agus air saoghal eadar-nàiseanta na bàrdachd ann an 1943 nuair a nochd Dàin do Eimhir le Somhairle MacGill-Eain.
We'll see! The world of Gaelic and the international world of poetry changed in 1943 when Dàin do Eimhir by Somhairle MacLean appeared.
Tha cuimhn' agamsa air mo mhàthair a' bruidhinn air Nua-bhàrdachd Gàidhlig—a' bhàrdachd aig Somhairle MacGill-Eain, Dòmhnall MacAmhlaigh, Iain Mac a' Ghobhainn, Ruaraidh MacThòmais is Deòrsa Mac Iain Deòrsa cruinn còmhla san aon leabhar.
I remember my mother talking about Modern Scottish Gaelic Poems—the poetry of Sorley MacLean, Donald MacAulay, Iain Crichton Smith, Derick Thomson and George Campbell Hay gathered together in the same book.
Ged a bha sin mìorbhaileach agus deatamach ann an 1976, càit an robh na bana-bhàird?
Although that was wonderful and vital [necessary] in 1976, where were the female poets?
Deagh cheist! Nach mi a tha taingeil gun do nochd na dàin aig Catrìona NicGumaraid is Mòrag NicGumaraid agus Anna Frater ann an clò.
Good question! Amn't I grateful that the poems of Catrìona MacGumaraid (Catrìona Montgomery) and Mòrag MacGumaraid (Morag Montgomery) and Anna Frater (Anne Frater) appeared in print.
Agus tha cùisean, stoidhlean is cuspairean air leudachadh gu mòr sa leth-cheud bliadhna an dèidh sin.
And issues, styles and themes have developed significantly in the fifty years since.
Cha do dh'ainmich sinn Aonghas Dubh MacNeacail: chaidh mi 'n-dè dhan choille challtainn—'Breisleach'! Sàr dhàn agus sàr òran cuideachd.
We didn't mention Angus Dubh MacNeacail: I went to the hazel forest yesterday—'Breisleach'! An excellent poem and an excellent song too.
Fhuair an dàn sin dà luchd-èisteachd, saoilidh mi—feadhainn a leugh an dàn agus feadhainn eile a chuala an t-òran (aig Capercaillie).
That poem received two audiences, I think—those who read the poem and others who heard the song (by Capercaillie).
Agus a' bruidhinn air atharrachadh luchd-èisteachd eile, no luchd-leughaidh eile, bha, agus tha, fasan ann gum biodh na bàird ag eadar-theangachadh nan dàin aca gu Beurla.
And talking about different audiences, or readers, there was, and is, a fashion for the poets to translate their poems into English.
Dè tha thu a' ciallachadh le sin?
What do you mean by that?
Tha mi a' ciallachadh, ma dh'fhaodte nach bi luchd-ionnsachaidh na Gàidhlig, no luchd-leughaidh fiù 's, a' cur an aon luach anns an dàn sa Ghàidhlig.
I mean, perhaps learners of Gaelic, or even readers, might not place the same value on the poem in Gaelic.