Ar Broella
The Broella is a funeral rite for islanders from the Ile de Ouessant who are lost at sea. Dan Ar Braz wrote a song about it that appears on Finisterres - which features a few songs in Irish and Breton. Below are the third, fourth and last verses in Breton with my translation (pieced together from the Breton and the included French translation):
Kalon digor er mor
Ken leun a vuhez
Laosket en donder
Tre daouarn an noz
Heart open to the sea
A heart so full of life
Left behind in the depths
In the hands of the night
D'ar vro out distro
Gant ar groas wenn
Laouenn o'h adkavout
Hent an enezenn
To your country returned
With the white cross' aid
Glad to find once again
Your old island's way
Ken gwenn eo ar groas
'Vit ar Broella
Ken gwenn hag al leor
A zerron ennon
So white is the cross
For the Broella
As white as the book
That I close within
A little vocabulary for those interested in Celtic languages:
kalon - heart (cardio-); mor - sea (Fr. mer); buhez - life; laosket - left (Fr. laisser); noz - night (Lat. nox); bro - country; kroas - cross (Fr. croix); gwenn - white (Guinevere means "white wave"); leor (levr) - book (Fr. livre)
Kalon digor er mor
Ken leun a vuhez
Laosket en donder
Tre daouarn an noz
Heart open to the sea
A heart so full of life
Left behind in the depths
In the hands of the night
D'ar vro out distro
Gant ar groas wenn
Laouenn o'h adkavout
Hent an enezenn
To your country returned
With the white cross' aid
Glad to find once again
Your old island's way
Ken gwenn eo ar groas
'Vit ar Broella
Ken gwenn hag al leor
A zerron ennon
So white is the cross
For the Broella
As white as the book
That I close within
A little vocabulary for those interested in Celtic languages:
kalon - heart (cardio-); mor - sea (Fr. mer); buhez - life; laosket - left (Fr. laisser); noz - night (Lat. nox); bro - country; kroas - cross (Fr. croix); gwenn - white (Guinevere means "white wave"); leor (levr) - book (Fr. livre)
Labels: Breton
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