Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BOATMAN OF KINSALE, by THOMAS OSBORNE DAVIS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BOATMAN OF KINSALE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: His kiss is sweet, his word is kind
Last Line: The boatman of kinsale.
Subject(s): Kinsale, Ireland


His kiss is sweet, his word is kind,
His love is rich to me;
I could not in a palace find
A truer love than he.
The eagle shelters not his nest
From hurricane and hail,
More bravely than he guards my breast,
The boatman of Kinsale.

The wind that round the Fastnet sweeps
Is not a whit more pure,
The goat that down Knock Sheehy leaps
Has not a foot more sure.
No firmer hand, no freer eye
E'er faced an autumn gale.
De Courcy's heart is not so high,
The Boatman of Kinsale.

The brawling squires may heed him not,
The dainty stranger sneer,
But who will dare to hurt our cot
When Myles O'Hea is here?
The scarlet soldiers pass along,
They'd like but fear to rail--
His blood is hot, his blow is strong,
The Boatman of Kinsale.

His hooker's in the Scilly van
When seines are in the foam;
But money never made the man,
Nor wealth a happy home.
So blest with love and liberty,
While he can trim a sail,
He'll trust in God, and cling to me,
The boatman of Kinsale.





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