O'ER many a river bridged with ice, Through many a vale with snow-drifts dumb, Past quaking fen and precipice The Princes of the North are come! Lo, these are they that, year by year, Roll'd back the tide of England's war; -- Rejoice, Kinsale! thy help is near! That wondrous winter march is o'er. And thus they sang, 'To-morrow morn Our eyes shall rest upon the foe: Roll on, swift night, in silence borne, And blow, thou breeze of sunrise, blow!' Blithe as a boy on march'd the host With droning pipe and clear-voiced harp; At last above that southern coast Rang out their war-steed's whinny sharp: And up the sea-salt slopes they wound, And airs once more of ocean quaff'd; Those frosty woods, the blue wave's bound, As though May touched them waved and laugh'd. And thus they sang, 'To-morrow morn Our eyes shall rest upon our foe: Roll on, swift night, in silence borne, And blow, thou breeze of sunrise, blow!' Beside their watchfires couch'd all night Some slept, some danced, at cards some play'd, While, chanting on a central height Of moonlit crag, the priesthood pray'd: And some to sweetheart, some to wife Sent message kind; while others told Triumphant tales of recent fight, Or legends of their sires of old. And thus they sang, 'To-morrow morn Our eyes at last shall see the foe: Roll on, swift night, in silence borne, And blow, thou breeze of sunrise, blow!' | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CHARACTER OF A GOOD PARSON by GEOFFREY CHAUCER ALL GOATS by ELIZABETH JANE COATSWORTH BROTHER AND SISTER by MARY ANN EVANS THE MOURNING-GARMENT: THE SHEPHERD'S WIFE'S SONG by ROBERT GREENE PATIENCE by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE ON THE DEATH OF DR. ROBERT LEVET, A PRACTISER IN PHYSIC by SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-1784) PALINGENESIS by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW |