Patrick’s Rune

Patrick’s Rune
At Tara (here) today in this fateful hour
I place all Heaven with its power,
And the sun with its brightness,
And the snow with its whiteness,
And fire with all the strength it hath,
And lightning with its rapid wrath,
And the winds with their swiftness along their path,
And the sea with its deepness,
And the rocks with their steepness,
And the earth with its starkness:
All these I place,
By God’s almighty help and grace,
Between myself (my family) and the powers of darkness.

Program Note
In 2020 when the pandemic was in its early horrific stages, my twin nieces, Adelle & Reaghann
sent me a video reciting this Charles Mangan English version of this anonymous prayer
attributed to St. Patrick. They replaced At Tara with “here” and replaced myself with “my
family” and sent me this recitation to encourage me while alone and quarantined. I decided to set
it to music as a prayer for my entire family and all my friends, not knowing how this fearful time
would conclude. Laura Strickling sang the world premiere in Boston, May 1, 2022.
—Emerson Eads