Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE INVASION: SONG. CEAD MILE FAILTE, ELIM!, by GERALD JOSEPH GRIFFIN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE INVASION: SONG. CEAD MILE FAILTE, ELIM!, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: Cead mile failte! Child of the ithian!
Last Line: Cead mile failte, elim!
Subject(s): Ireland; Irish


CEAD Mile Failte! child of the Ithian!
Cead Mile Failte, Elim!
Aisneach, thy temple in ruins is lying,
In Druim na Druid the dark blast is sighing,
Lonely we shelter in grief and in danger,
Yet have we welcome and cheer for the stranger.
Cead Mile Failte! child of the Ithian!
Cead Mile Failte, Elim!

Woe for the weapons that guarded our slumbers,
Temreach, they said, was too small for our numbers;
Little is left for our sons to inherit,
Yet what we have, thou art welcome to share it.
Cead Mile Failte! child of the Ithian!
Cead Mile Failte, Elim!

Corman, thy teachers have died broken-hearted;
Voice of the trilithon, thou art departed!
All have forsaken our mountains so dreary,
All but the spirit that welcomes the weary.
Cead Mile Failte! child of the Ithian!
Cead Mile Failte, Elim!

Vainly the Draithe, alone in the mountain,
Look to the torn cloud or eddying fountain;
The spell of the Christian has vanquished their power,
Yet is he welcome to rest in our bower.
Cead Mile Failte! child of the Ithian!
Cead Mile Failte, Elim!

Wake for the Christian your welcoming numbers!
Strew the dry rushes to pillow his slumbers;
Long let him cherish, with deep recollection,
The eve of our feast, and the Druid's affection.
Cead Mile Failte! child of the Ithian!
Cead Mile Failte, Elim!





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