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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IRISH WAR-SONG, by EDWARD WALSH First Line: Bright sun! Before whose glorious ray Alternate Author Name(s): Walshe, Edward | |||
I. Bright sun, before whose glorious ray, Our Pagan fathers bent the knee; Whose pillar-altars yet can say, When time was young, our sires were free Wlio seest how fallen their offspring be Our matrons' tears-our patriots' gore; We swear before high Heaven and thee, The Saxon holds us slaves no more! II. Our sun-burst on the Roman foe Flash'd vengeance once in foreign field On Clontarfs plain lay scathed low What power the Sea-kings fierce could wield! Beinn Burb might say whose cloven shield 'Neath bloody hoofs was trampled o'er; And, by these memories high, we yield Our limbs to Saxon chains no more! III. The clairseach wild, whose trembling string Had long the " song of sorrow" spoke, Shall bid the wild Rosg-Cata sing The curse and crime of Saxon yoke. And, by each heart his bondage broke Each exile's sigh on distant shore Each martyr 'neath the headsman's stroke The Saxon holds us slaves no more! IV. Send the loud war-cry o'er the main Your sun-burst to the breezes spread! That slogan rends the heaven in twain The earth reels back beneath your tread! Ye Saxon despots, hear, and dread Your march o'er patriot hearts is o'er That shout hath told-that tramp hath said, Our country's sons are slaves no more! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BRIGHIDIN BAN MO STOR (FAIR YOUNG BRIDE) by EDWARD WALSH MAIRGREAD NI CHEALLEADH by EDWARD WALSH MO CRAOIBHIN CNO (MY CLUSTER OF NUTS) by EDWARD WALSH O'DONOVAN'S DAUGHTER by EDWARD WALSH SONG OF THE PENAL DAYS; 1720 by EDWARD WALSH ON THE COLD SOD THAT'S O'ER YOU by EDWARD WALSH SONGS OF THE NATION by EDWARD WALSH VARIATIONS: 16 by CONRAD AIKEN |
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