Carney is by far the best translator of early Irish poetry. he cuts to the bone - no flowery romantic additives here:
No pleasure
that deed I did, tormenting him,
tormenting what I treasure.
the introduction illuminates the structure of the poetry of this period, and the coda essay follows an Irish bardic poet's life and living through all his writings, making clear the position of an ollav within the old Irish system. an important little book altogether for anyone interested in Irish poetry. ( )