Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


LAMENTATION FOR THE DEATH OF SIR MAURICE FITZGERALD, KNIGHT OF KERRY by JAMES CLARENCE MANGAN

First Line: THERE WAS LIFTED UP ONE VOICE OF WOE
Last Line: DOWN THE HOLLOW GLEN?

There was lifted up one voice of woe ,
One lament of more than mortal grief,
Through the wide South to and fro,
For a fallen Chief.
In the dead of night that cry thrilled through me,
I looked out upon the midnight air!
Mine own soul was all as gloomy,
And I knelt in prayer.


O'er Loch Gur, that night, once-twice-yea, thrice-
Passed a wail of anguish for the Brave
That half curdled into ice
Its moon-mirroring wave.
Then uprose a many-toned wild hymn in
Choral swell from Ogra's dark ravine,
And Mogeely's Phantom Women
Mourned the Geraldine!


Far on Carah Mona's emerald plains
Shrieks and sighs were blended many hours,
And Fermoy in fitful strains
Answered from her towers.
Youghal, Keenalmeaky, Eemokilly
Mourned in concert, and their piercing keen
Woke to wondering life the stilly
Glens of Inchiqueen.


From Loughmoe to yellow Dunanore
There was fear; the traders of Tralee
Gathered up their golden store,
And prepared to flee;
For, in ship and hall from night till morning
Showed the first faint beamings of the sun,
All the foreigners heard the warning
Of the Dreaded One!
"This," they spake, "portendeth death to us,
If we fly not swiftly from our fate!"




Home: PoetryExplorer.net