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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ST. SENANUS AND THE LADY by THOMAS MOORE

First Line: OH! HASTE AND LEAVE THIS SACRED ISLE
Last Line: SHE NE'ER HAD LEFT HIS LONELY ISLE.
Subject(s): SENANUS, SAINT (488-560); WOMEN;

ST. SENANUS.

"OH! haste and leave this sacred isle,
Unholy bark, ere morning smile;
For on thy deck, though dark it be,
A female form I see;
And I have sworn this sainted sod
Shall ne'er by woman's feet be trod."

THE LADY.

"O Father! send not hence my bark,
Through wintry winds and billows dark;
I come with humble heart to share
Thy morn and evening prayer:
Nor mine the feet, O holy Saint!
The brightness of thy sod to taint."

The Lady's prayer Senanus spurn'd;
The winds blew fresh, the bark return'd;
But legends hint, that had the maid
Till morning's light delay'd,
And given the saint one rosy smile,
She ne'er had left his lonely isle.



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