An Dreolín

I wake to the loud shrill of your song

heralding the morning chorus,

your long beak chirping the dawn

sun rising east of my house.

I watch from my window your body,

light as a penny trembling reddish brown

plumage, flicking its short, cocked tail

a druidess throating high on a birch

the churr and check of your panpipe syrinx

reed nymph echoing in my head.

There you are, tireless in your smallness,

darting and probing, building your dome-shaped

moss home hidden in a hole

of a tree trunk.

What care have you, little medieval heart

rising from the feathers of an eagle, revered

by pagans, persecuted by clerics who

disavowed our belief in your wisdom,

their trickery, scapegoating Clíodhna

for the drowning of men, and you

for the death of St. Stephen.

You little bird, with a mere few years,

rapid wing beat carrying legends

singing a salve to soothe the solitude

of evening sky falling into the tangle of a nearby wood.

Lilting your warbling rhythm into my dreams.

© Attracta Fahy

* Dreolín is Gaelic for Wren meaning Druid. Pagans viewed the wren as a symbol of divinity, and believed that wrens were messengers for Druid High Priests.

A bird doesn’t have a voice box - it has a syrinx, named after the Greek nymph who was turned into reeds from which panpipes were made.

*In Irish folklore the wrens chitter gave away the location of St. Stephen when he was hiding from his persecutors. Stephen was captured and stoned to death, making him the first official martyr of Christianity. Others say in folklore that early Christian Clerics scapegoated the wren to overpower pagan beliefs. This may be the reason for the tradition of the mummer Wrenboys on St. Stephens Day.

*Irish folklore declared the wren king of all birds after a contest was held to see which bird could fly highest. The wren hid in the feathers of an eagle and flew above the eagle, thus winning for its wisdom.

*Clíodhna was a Celtic goddess of hunting, believed to be the original banshee, and having magic powers. She was reputed to have lured men through seduction wherein they would drown. It is said in folklore that when her magic was discovered she transfigured into a wren and escaped to the other realm. This belief originates and relates to Christianity scapegoating the wren and feminine sexuality.