Vive la! for Ireland's wrong, And vive la! for Ireland's right; Vive la! in the battle throng, For a Spanish steed and sabre bright! The brave old lord died near the fight, But, for each drop he lost that night, A Saxon cavalier shall bite The dust before Lord Clare's Dragoons. For never, when our spurs were set, And never, when our sabres met, Could we the Saxon soldiers get To stand the shock of Clare's Dragoons. Vive la! for the New Brigade Vive la! the old one too! Vive la! the rose shall fade, And the shamrock shine for ever new! Another Clare is here to lead, The worthy son of such a breed; The French expect some famous deed, When Clare leads on his bold Dragoons. Our colonel comes from Brian's race, His wounds are in his breast and face, The gap of danger is still his place, The foremost of his bold Dragoons. Vive la! the New Brigade! Vive la! the old one too; Vive la! the rose shall fade, And the shamrock shine for ever new! There's not a man in the squadron here Was ever known to flinch or fear; Though first in charge, the last in rear Have ever been Lord Clare's Dragoons. But, see! we'll soon have work to do, To shame our boasts or prove them true, For hither comes the English crew To sweep away Lord Clare's Dragoons, Vive la! for Ireland's wrong! Vive la! for Ireland's right! Vive la! in battled throng, For a Spanish steed and sabre bright! Oh, comrades, think how Ireland pines Her exiled lords, her rifled shrines -- Her dearest hope the ordered lines And bursting charge of Clare's Dragoons! Then fling your green flag to the sky, Be Limerick your battle-cry, And charge, till blood floats fetlock-high Around the track of Clare's Dragoons! Vive la! the New Brigade! Vive la! the old one too! Vive la! the rose shall fade, And the shamrock shine for ever new! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OZYMANDIAS REVISITED by MORRIS GILBERT BISHOP LINCOLN by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER AT HOME IN HEAVEN by JAMES MONTGOMERY POEM FOR PICTURE: TO A PORTRAIT BY EDWARD STEICHEN (RACHMANINOFF) by FRANK ANKENBRAND JR. ELEGIAC SONNET TO A MOPSTICK by WILLIAM BECKFORD FEATHERSTONHAUGH by BARCROFT HENRY BOAKE TEN YEARS HAVE PASSED; ON VIEWING WAR GRAVES AT VERDUN, 1928 by DON MAITLAND BUSHBY |