Farewell, O Patrick Sarsfield! May luck be on your path! Your camp is broken up, your work is marred for years; But you go to kindle into flamme the king of France's wrath, Though you leave sick Eire in tears. Och! ochone! May the white sun and moon rain glory on your head, All hero as you are, and holy man of God! To you the Saxons owe a many an hour of dread, In the land you have often trod, Och! ochone! The Son of Mary guard you and bless you to the end! 'Tis altered is the time since your legions were astir, When, at Cullen, you were hailed as the Conqueror and Friend, And you crossed Narrow-water, near Birr. Och! ochone! I'll journey to the North, over mount, moor, and wave; 'Twas there I first beheld, drawn up in file and line, The brilliant Irish hosts--they were bravest of the brave! But, alas! they scorned to combine! Och! ochone! On the bridge of the Boyne was our first overthrow; By Slaney, the next, for we battled without rest; The third was at Aughrim. O Eire! thy woe Is a sword in my bleeding breast! Och! ochone! Oh, the roof above our heads it was barbarously fired, While the black Orange guns blazed and bellowed around! And as volley followed volley, Colonel Mitchel inquired Whether Lucan still stood his gound. Och! ochone! But O'Kelly still remains to defy and to toil; He has memories that Hell won't permit him to forget, And the sword that will make the blue blood flow like oil Upon many an Aughrim yet! Och! ochone! And I never shall believe that my fatherland can fall, With the Burkes, and the Dukes, and the son of Royal James; And Talbot the Captain, and Sarsfield above all, The beloved of damsels and dames. Och! ochone! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...JACK AND JILL (1) by MOTHER GOOSE THE POET'S SONG FOR HIS WIFE by BRYAN WALLER PROCTER ODES: BOOK 1: ODE 13. ON LYRIC POETRY by MARK AKENSIDE A HINT FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD SATIRE OF JUVENAL by PHILIP AYRES WERE IT ONLY NOW by A. W. BELL THE GUERRILLA by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD IN MEMORIAM: A.F (OB. OCT. 12, 1879) by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN |