| Padraic Colum (1881–1972). Anthology of Irish Verse. 1922. |
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| 142. I Am Raferty |
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| By Douglas Hyde (Translated) |
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| I AM Raferty the Poet | |
| Full of hope and love, | |
| With eyes that have no light, | |
| With gentleness that has no misery. | |
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| Going west upon my pilgrimage | 5 |
| By the light of my heart, | |
| Feeble and tired | |
| To the end of my road. | |
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| Behold me now, | |
| And my face to the wall, | 10 |
| A-playing music | |
| Unto empty pockets. | |
| | | Raferty, a Connacht peasant poet, while at some festivity, heard someone asking who he was. He was then blind and a fiddler. Turning around he made this perfect utterance. Raftery died in 1835. His poems have been collected, edited and translated by Dr. Douglas Hyde. |
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