O PADDY 1 dear, an’ did you hear the news that ’s goin’ round?
The shamrock is forbid by law to grow on Irish ground;
St. Patrick’s Day no more we ’ll keep; his colors can’t be seen:
For there ’s a cruel law agin’ the wearin’ of the green.
I met with Napper Tandy, and he tuk me by the hand,
And he said, “How ’s poor ould Ireland, and how does she stand...
-
-
It chanced to me upon a time to sail
Across the Southern ocean to and fro;
And, landing at fair isles, by stream and vale
Of sensuous blessing did we ofttimes go.
And months of dreamy joys, like joys in sleep,
Or like a clear, calm stream o’er mossy stone,
Unnoted passed our hearts with voiceless sweep,
And left us yearning still... -
Bless the dear old verdant land!
Brother, wert thou born of it?
As thy shadow life doth stand
Twining round its rosy band,
Did an Irish mother’s hand
Guide thee in the morn of it?
Did a father’s first command
Teach thee love or scorn of it?Thou who tread’st its fertile breast,
Dost thou feel a glow for it?... -
[1847]
they are dying! they are dying! where the golden corn is growing;
They are dying! they are dying! where the crowded herds are lowing:
They are gasping for existence where the streams of life are flowing,
And they perish of the plague where the breeze of health is blowing!God of justice! God of power!
Do we dream?... -
A Seaside Portrait
A GREAT, still Shape, alone,
She sits (her harp has fallen) on the sand,
And sees her children, one by one, depart:—
Her cloak (that hides what sins beside her own!)
Wrapped fold on fold about her. Lo,
She comforts her fierce heart,
As wailing some, and some gay-singing go,
With the far vision of that... -
There came to the beach a poor exile of Erin,
The dew on his thin robe was heavy and chill;
For his country he sighed, when at twilight repairing
To wander alone by the wind-beaten hill.
But the day-star attracted his eye’s sad devotion,
For it rose o’er his own native isle of the ocean,
Where once, in the fire of his youthful emotion,... -
Shall mine eyes behold thy glory, O my country? Shall mine eyes behold thy glory?
Or shall the darkness close around them, ere the sun-blaze breaks at last upon thy story?
When the nations ope for thee their queenly circle, as a sweet new sister hail thee,
Shall these lips be sealed in callous death and silence, that have known but to bewail thee?
Shall the ear... -
At Venice
lo Venice, gay with color, lights and song,
Calls from St. Mark’s with ancient voice and strange:
I am the Witch of Cities! glide along
My silver streets that never wear by change
Of years: forget the years, and pain, and wrong,
And ever sorrow reigning men among.
Know I can soothe thee, please and marry thee
To my... -
O Child of Nations, giant-limbed,
Who stand’st among the nations now,
Unheeded, unadored, unhymned,
With unanointed brow:How long the ignoble sloth, how long
The trust in greatness not thine own?
Surely the lion’s brood is strong
To front the world alone!How long the indolence, ere thou dare
Achieve thy... -
Anonymous translation from the German
WHAT is the German’s fatherland?
Is it Prussia, or the Swabian’s land?
Is it where the grape glows on the Rhine?
Where sea-gulls skim the Baltic’s brine?
Oh no! more grand
Must be the German’s fatherland!What is the German’s fatherland?
Bavaria, or the Styrian’s land?
Is it...