Translations for The Memory of Trees

All lyrics are by Roma Ryan unless otherwise noted.


Pax Deorum

Latin & Irish Gaelic
Pax Deorum
Peace of the Gods [1]
..domineoveniteosacramentum(discesm)eodeo
domineoveniteosacramentum(discesm)eodeo
domineoveniteosacramentum(discesm)eodeo..
athairarneamhdialinn..athairarneamhdialiom


Omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum.
Omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum.
[2] [3]


Father in Heaven, God bless us..
Father in Heaven, God bless me [4]

Believe that each day which breaks is your last. [5]
Believe that each day which breaks is your last.
  1. The object of Roman religion was to secure the cooperation, benevolence, and "peace" of the gods, hence "pax deorum".
  2. This Latin may be divided to obtain "domine o venite o sacramentum (disces m)eo deo", which is difficult to translate and is questionable grammar. It may be intended to mean both "lord o come o sacrament by/from that god" and "lord o come o sacrament (you) learn of/from my god". The lyric doesn't seem to be duplicable in English.
  3. The word "sacramentum" is a Latin word used to describe an oath. Later, it came to refer to a formal Christian rite, especially one considered to have been instituted by Jesus as a means of grace (often communion).
  4. This Irish Gaelic is the same as the first two lines of "Athair ar Neamh".
  5. This Latin is an exact quote from Horace's Epistles, Book I, Epistle IV, line 13. The whole sentence of which this is part (lines 12-14) reads:

    Inter spem curamque, timores inter et iras
    omnen crede diem tibi diluxisse supremem:
    grata superveniet quae non sperabitur hora.

    This means:

    Amid the hope and worry, the fear and anger
    believe that each day which breaks is your last:
    the unhoped for hour will be a welcome surprise.

Athair ar Neamh

Irish Gaelic
Athair ar Neamh
Father in Heaven
Athair ar Neamh, Dia linn
Athair ar Neamh, Dia liom
M'anam, mo chroí, mo ghlóir,
moladh duit, a Dhia.

Fada an lá, go sámh
Fada an oích', gan ghruaim
Aoibhneas, áthas, grá,
moladh duit, a Dhia.

Móraim thú ó lá go lá.
Móraim thú ó oích' go hóich'.

Athair ar Neamh, Dia linn
Athair ar Neamh, Dia liom
An ghealach, an ghrian, an ghaoth,
moladh duit, a Dhia.

Father in Heaven, God bless us [1]
Father in Heaven, God bless me
My soul, my heart, my glory,
praise to you, God.

Long is the peaceful day
Long is the night without gloom
Delight, joy, love,
praise to you, God.

I glorify you day after day.
I glorify you night after night.

Father in Heaven, God bless us
Father in Heaven, God bless me
The moon, the sun, the wind,
praise to you, God.

  1. A literal translation of "Dia linn" is "God be with us".

La Soñadora

Spanish
La Soñadora
The Dreamer
Yo; el otoño
Yo; el vespero
He sido un eco

Seré una ola
Seré la luna
He sido todo, soy yo

Yo; el verano
Yo; el ébano
Soy la soñadora

I; the autumn
I; the evening star [1]
I have been an echo

I shall be a wave
I shall be the moon
I have been everything, I am myself

I; the summer
I; the ebony
I am the dreamer

  1. vespero: the planet Venus as a star of the late afternoon or early evening [Lat. vesperus, evening, evening star.]



Credits

Pax Deorum
Translation by Stefano Toria, William F. Hoffman, John K. Wardle, and Daniel Quinlan.
Athair ar Neamh
Translation merged from independent translations by Allan Riepsaame and Dennis Ryan.
La Soñadora
Translation by Stefano Toria. Corrections from Luis R. Emiro and Daniel Quinlan.


Index | The Celts | Watermark | Shepherd Moons | The Memory of Trees | A Day Without Rain | Singles

13 May 1996 - Maintained by Daniel Quinlan