The aisling, Irish for dream or vision, is a mythopoeic poetic genre that developed in Irish-language poetry during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In an aisling, Ireland appears to the poet in a vision as a woman from the Otherworld, sometimes young and beautiful and sometimes old and haggard, who laments the state of the Irish people and predicts their revival, typically tied to the restoration of the Stuart line; the priest-poet Geoffrey Keating is credited with the earliest examples, while Aodhagan O Rathaille is regarded as the first major aisling poet.
Facts
Place of OriginIreland; the genre developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language poetry. 1 Notable ExampleGile na gile by Aodhagán Ó Rathaille and Ceo draíochta i gcoim oíche by Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin are named among the most famous examples of aisling poetry. 1 Defining TraitA mythopoeic vision-poem genre in which Ireland appears to the poet as a woman from the Otherworld who laments the current state of the Irish people and predicts an imminent revival of their fortunes. 1 FAQs
Are aisling poems only meant to be read on the page?
Many aisling poems are still sung as sean-nós songs.
No. Many aisling poems are still sung as traditional sean-nós songs, so the form is heard as well as read.
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Source Aisling (Wikipedia)tier 2
Sources
1. Aisling (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHistory of the form section
Among the most famous examples of aisling poetry are Gile na gile by Ó Rathaille and Ceo draíochta i gcoim oíche by Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin, who is also famed for his works in the genre.
Lead paragraph
or vision poem, is a mythopoeic poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language poetry.
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