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Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

Updated: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 12:16 am

tomasocarthaigh@yahoo.com

cartyweb@hotmail.com

http://www.writingsinrhyme.com

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Biography

See me on Facebook... Profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=736687279&ref=name FanPage: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tomas-O-Carthaigh/31714088267 Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=57170429046 Creative Exchange: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39045943853 Poetry Lunch: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=195154605322# Publish by Subscription: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38823959041 I love reading others work too, and the work of the three Roberts, Burns, Frost and Service have been a major influence on me, as have the Irish writers Yeats, Colum and Moore. I like to write old fashioned poetry... you know... the boring kind that rhymes!!! I write on all topics, from the current train of thought. Though not a great runner to church faith occurs as a subject a lot in what I write. Championing the underdog is another strong theme of by poetry, from the Red Indian to the Roma, to the Scots and ourselves.

Samples

Burns loved the lasses, out with many he walked How the parsons grumbled: how the people talked! Condemned he was by parson and people, in pulpit and letter! Shame on the ladies who walked out with a man like he! The lad that loved the lasses scorned them all Who he and his ladys as sinners they did call And chided them for having nothing to do better! Than annoy two of God creatures who in Love be! Sinners at a Séance They sat together round a table As decent folk lay in bed So that they might be able To converse with the dead. Spirits came, they told, when called To cross the great divide And others sat enthralled As some spoke to loved ones who died. Such by all faiths is forbidden Called by all a sin For Evil in the dark arts is hidden But is found deep within And the séance is a Trojan horse, a gift And the should when in peace Like a flea on a dog, ir lives a lift And so to Evil gives release. Thus inspired by spirits found At such séances at night Yeats, with pen and paper found New inspiration for imaginations flight. Why did not he do so as I And other normal men Take time out to see the sky Or turn to church again? The Holy Ghost is a spirit to seek Its message is pure and true The Word of God is what it does speak Of its word you can be sure Though not often, and in church twice as rare My thoughts t such turn for a while I find peace and inspiration in prayer And start to write with a smile… The Great Mc Gonagle! Of awful verse he was the master, Writing of the Tay Bridge disaster, Stating Shakespeare the best wordsmith be, In Britain to date, and second he, No disrespect to Burns the Bard No desire for a great name to be tarred, He was second best Scottish son, For north of the border, Mc Gonagle was number one! On receiving inspiration divine Pen he seized to write a line Continued to write, such verse he penned: Was to cause mirth until his end! His first verse was to the Reverend Gilfillan, an address Which was judged by same to be a poetic mess Wryly the poets efforts the minister did dismiss Stating "Shakespeare wrote nothing like this!" His verse on theatre and street he read, With laughter and derision he was met instead, Of the respect he expected, while reading pompous Clad in Kilt he caused quite a rumpus! He tried once to America to go But on its shores no-one did know Found himself cut loose, culturally cast away His homeward fare a kind stranger did pay Once fifty miles or more he walked To read verse to the queen: but when he talked To the guardsmen at the gate He was turned away in indignant state To be poet laureate he said he wished to seek, To be told that to try he had a cheek, And he’d better move while still was free, To go as he pleased all the way home to Dundee. And them his finest hour came, Or maybe his greatest composition of shame! When the Tay Bridge collapsed in a gale While upon it crossed a train by rail... And to write upon it he was possessed To read his words few were impressed And his ode to the tragedy of the bridge of the Tay Causes smiles to all to this very day. Was he a fool... or just a bad poet If he was a fool he seemed not to know it Some say he was clever acted if on a stage, As he commanded his audience as he read from his page. Though they laughed and at him things threw, That he brightened their day that much he knew And how many writers who so serious could be Will be long forgotten when remembered is he? How many poets refuse to use rhyme Mc Gonagle insisted to use it all the time Unfortunately the pattern often fell out of place, In the age of the Romantics that cast him from grace, He was but a common man, at least he did try, To be like him, none want to be including I, But still to convention he was never a slave, And to his emotions was never the knave As I this verse write in his appalling style I admire his bravery, smiling all the while, Though great are his foes and his friends they are few, To his art in his heart he tried to be true, And those who read his words may mock and may grin But to be a weaver and a poets no sin And as I sit here more poetry to write, May I be pure as heart as he as I scribble tonight! First Ode to Wordsworth Verses of Golden daffodils I’ve read That waved in the varying wind around That showed the beauty of the world That in the sight he found. Such verses of serenity, Of ambience and of peace, That he desired for the world, And of global freedom were to cease... And the champion of the underdog The republican, and of those not free Was to change in the blink of an eye, To champion the system, empire and monarchy. And bonny Wordsworth who with pen Signed his works with name as "Will" Changed to the more formal "William" And wrote his name as such his death until... What caused this change I do not know, To find out is an impossible task, But if to where he is on death I go, The question to him I’ll surely ask! */ Early writings of Wordsworth were libertarian and reactionary in nature, full of the joys of life, to which he signed his name "Will Wordsworth". However, a change in the tone and subject matter arrived in the second period of his life, and on these more socially standard works he wrote his name in the more formal "William Wordsworth", by which we know him today. This poem is inspired by a "Readers Digest" article from 1970 that explores his work and asks why as to the change in the name and tone of works from Wordsworth.

All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.

Audio entries by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

Give to Me an Angry Sea (01/09/2012)

That We May Never Have to Play Dalibors Fiddle (07/01/2010)

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Comments

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Ian Whiteley

Sun 11th May 2014 10:57

Tomas
thanks for your kind comments regarding 'grandchildren of the somme' and apologies for taking so long to reply - I'm finding I'm spending less time on WOL than I used to - but that's a kinda good thing because I'm out performing more :-) I need to find a better balance between writing/performing I think. this poem is part of a wider work I'm recording with musical backings to commemorate the great war - it will include a lot of different pieces, but really glad to have obtained permission from the Wilfred Owen society to use a couple of the great mans works in the piece - so watch this space if you like war poetry. thanks once again for commenting - regards - Ian

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Alex Frankel

Tue 29th Apr 2014 22:14

Hi Tomas, cheers for your comment on my Doctor poem!

Really enjoyed your McGonagle poem .. very funny and perfectly written. I just heard of this guy fairly recently on a Horrible Histories Audio CD!

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Noris Roberts

Tue 29th Apr 2014 00:58

Thank you Tomas, I'm glad you enjoyed it. :D

Frances Macaulay Forde

Thu 20th Feb 2014 05:56

Thank you for your comment, Tomas. Now to read your poems...

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Ian Whiteley

Sun 24th Nov 2013 19:51

thanks for the comment on M.I.A tomas - much appreciated
Ian

<Deleted User> (6895)

Fri 13th Jan 2012 12:41

Thank you Tomas
for comments on our blog.

P&S

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Dave D Poet Rhumour

Fri 13th Jan 2012 10:57

Hi Tomas - many thanks for your comments on 'All The Love In The World' - much appreciated. Like you I have a preference rhyming forms of poetry. :) Best wishes, Dave

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Hazel

Wed 11th Jan 2012 20:17

Thanks for the comment on Faded Firelight

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jude

Tue 30th Aug 2011 22:13

Hmmm....food for thought. I'm enjoying your work. I shall be reading more

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Graham Sherwood

Wed 25th Aug 2010 22:03

Tomas, thank you for your kind comments on Melancholium, much appreciated.

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Bernadette Herbertson

Tue 24th Aug 2010 00:49

Hi Tomas thank you for your lovely comment on my blog ..as yet untitled..i really must put a title on this one...i lived in fife scotland near dumfermline for 32 yrs and my son and daughter are both scottish. my son lives in ireland with his irish wife and my daughter and myself live in manchester where i originate from.. Best wishes..Bernadette

<Deleted User> (7483)

Sun 6th Jun 2010 18:36

Hi Tom, thanks for your uplifting comment!

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Rachel McGladdery

Sat 17th Apr 2010 11:58

Hi Tomas, yep, you got it absolutely spot on, thanks very much for commenting
x

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kath hewitt

Sun 11th Apr 2010 02:43

Hi,
Thanks for your comment :-)

<Deleted User> (7796)

Wed 24th Mar 2010 16:11

hey thanks for saying you like acrostica, tis one i wrote to get the thought out of my head. also thanks for the fb add :)

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clarissa mckone

Thu 18th Mar 2010 02:41

Hi Tomas, Glad you enjoyed the poem. I enjoyed reading your poem sinners at a seance, very true!

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Julia Deakin

Thu 22nd Oct 2009 13:48

Tomas - have only just checked my page after months and find a nice comment from you. Thanks. I'll change the samples soon.
Your mix of music, words and images in Flying Over Europe works well. A moving piece.

Best
Julia

<Deleted User> (6280)

Fri 11th Sep 2009 11:42

hi Tomas

Thankyou for your comments on "One Night" I agree that rhyme does seem to be on the decline at the moment. Anyway I loved reading your work as well.

Cath

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Rachel Pantechnicon

Wed 26th Aug 2009 10:40

Hello Tomas

Thanks for your thoughts on my "Four Magnolia Walls". I think you have hit the nail on the head (see how I extend the DIY metaphor, there).

Best regards

Rachel P

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Andy N

Tue 25th Aug 2009 19:11

glad you liked brief encounters.. i was thinking about at one point about reading brief encounters at ky's event but then i thought this was a all ages event so it wouldn't have being suitable - maybe next year! lol - i have got lots off different writing events on the go.. hoping for round 2 in ireland next year.. how bout u?

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Cate Greenlees

Thu 16th Jul 2009 15:07

Hi Thomas, thanks for your comment on Who do you See. Ive just been having a look at some of your work, and had a good chuckle at your Mc Gonagle poem.Ive always loved and quoted "Oh beautiful bridge o`er the Silvery Tay", as how not to do it, but as you have so rightly pointed out, how may poets have come and gone? and this still brings a smile to anyone who reads it...... makes you think!!
Cate xx

<Deleted User> (6344)

Wed 15th Jul 2009 19:44

Hi Tomas,

Thanks for your comment on 'After Happily Ever'. I really like 'The Great McGonagle'...Very funny!

Rachel

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Chris Dawson

Mon 13th Jul 2009 02:18

Hi Tomas,
Thanks for reading and commenting on my work - very much appreciated.
Cx

Deborah Jordan Bailey

Thu 9th Jul 2009 20:56

thank you for your kind comment Tomas, she was a Romanian gypsy, ţigan, no not meant to be cigan, I think cigan is Slovenian and she was Romanian. ta, Deb

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barrie singleton

Wed 8th Jul 2009 21:39

Thanks Thomas.
Glad you enjoyed The Woolly tale. I am impressed by your historical content - particularly as my knowledge of Poetry and Poets is severely limited. (I failed Eng. Lit.)

<Deleted User> (4235)

Wed 8th Jul 2009 01:27

Hi, Tomas. Thank you. It's good to be back, and thanks for adding me on Facebook. :)

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Andy N

Tue 7th Jul 2009 09:16

aye! I'm there! Currently rehearsing my set! The way it is looking - it is going to be Andy N & friends rather than Andy N, but that's me! Never do things by half! See you there!

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Isobel

Tue 7th Jul 2009 07:04

Thank you for revisiting my poetry Tomas. I think we share a love of rhyme. My free verse ones are few and far between.
Isobel x

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Francine

Tue 7th Jul 2009 02:44

Merci d'avoir aimé mon poème 'Je t'aime' : )

Deborah Jordan Bailey

Tue 2nd Jun 2009 20:20

Hi Tomas, thank you for taking the time to read and your kind comment on Paper Ghost, Deb

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