بن دورين: حوار مع جبل

The author, Gary MacKenzie, wrote about this book: My long poem is based on an 18th century Gaelic poem by Duncan Bane Macintyre, which I have translated into English. This is not to introduce MacIntyre's poetry itself to the English-speaking reader, as is usual in translations and editions. Rather, the parts of “Ben Dorrien” that are based on MacIntyre’s poem integrate that earlier work into an entirely new whole. MacIntyre's work is always in dialogue with (and often in contradiction to) verses not of his own, but which introduce contemporary ideas about ecology, land use, environmentalism, music, mythology, homosexual theory, and a diverse cultural history not found in Gaelic poetry. MacIntyre's verses are never without the influence of contemporary thought or commentary. My approach was to create a new, multi-faceted environmental poem, rather than simply translating a Gaelic poem into English to be accessible to a wider audience. For this reason, I describe the poem not as a translation or a copy. When we feel as if our species and our planet are heading towards an unknown future, and uncertainty pervades everything, it may seem strange to publish a book that is a “dialogue” with a mountain, a symbol of solidity itself. This mountain is Ben Dorrien, which rises near the Orchi Bridge. From some angles, it appears as a conical peak resembling Mount Fuji. The dialogue is also with a praise poem written by Duncan Baan Macintyre 250 years ago. MacIntyre's poem is a musical hymn to this particular Scottish mountain and its deer. The original poem is written in Gaelic, a language no longer spoken on that mountainside.