Hence come marvellously intricate poetic forms, a magical weaving of melody, of sound, of pomp of language. Hence spring artificiality, elaborate conceits, far-fetched metaphors, unreal similes, frigid love-poems. Add to this a fierce conservatism, an intense reverence for tradition, a wistful looking back to old times, a deep-rooted Christian religious sentiment and we get some idea of the marks that distinguish the Gaelic precursors and contemporaries of Merriman from the author of "Cúirt an Ṁeaḋon Oiḋċe."
VI.
In the first place, notice the unity of the composition of the "Cúirt." Few works of art in any language possess such perfect unity and coherence. Certainly there is nothing in Gaelic literature outside quatrains and short lyrics in which such perfect oneness of conception and execution is displayed. Each line is a complement of the last, the narrative and the argument run on unbroken and the theme journeys from the first line to the last without deviation. One feels a sense of completeness in the work. It cannot be said that any part of the poem is better than any other part. The mood may vary, but the mind never rambles from the theme, the treatment is just as adequate throughout. The flow of thought never runs in conventional channels. One can dip into the "Cúirt" anywhere without feeling that the poet was in a dull or listless mood when he penned the lines. There is no disproportion, no inequality in the parts that go to make the whole. The poet never gets so enamoured of any part of his subject as to dwell on it extravagantly, nor to go off at a tangent, losing the thread of thought. There are many great works of art which are monstrous, amorphous, unequal. Perfect unity and perfect coherence are so characteristic
B
