My obsession was the preservation of the Gaelic language so that there would be people left in the world who could hear its great songs as they reall… - Sorley MacLean

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My obsession was the preservation of the Gaelic language so that there would be people left in the world who could hear its great songs as they really were. No poetry could be translated, still less could song poetry, and the great language of Gaelic song made me fanatical about the beauty of the Gaelic language and its astonishing ability to indicate shades and positions of emphasis with natural inversions and the use of particles.

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About Sorley MacLean

Sorley MacLean (26 October 1911 – 24 November 1996; Scottish Gaelic: Somhairle MacGill-Eain) was a Scottish Gaelic poet. His book Dàin do Eimhir is considered the most important book published in Scottish Gaelic in the twentieth century, while his poem Hallaig achieved "cult status" in the English-speaking world for its representation of the Highland Clearances. He worked as a schoolteacher. MacLean is regarded as the most influential Scottish Gaelic poet in history.

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Additional quotes by Sorley MacLean

I personally have a great sense of honour and gratitude just for knowing him... It's easier for us to trust in the utter reality of poetry, trust in it as a necessity because you feel it's verified by somebody like him. He saved Gaelic poetry... in this century and therefore in a sense, saved it for all time.

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