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CEAN-SALLA, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: Weep not the brave dead!
Last Line: But I mourn for cean-salla!


THE LAST WORDS OF RED HUGH O'DONNELL ON HIS DEPARTURE FROM IRELAND FOR SPAIN.


Weep not the brave Dead!
Weep rather the Living-
On them lies the curse
Of a doom unforgiving!
Each dark hour that rolls,
Shall the memories they nurse,
Like molten hot lead,
Burn into their souls
A remorse long and sore!
They have helped to enthral a
Great land evermore,
They who fled from Cean-Salla!


Alas, for thee, slayer
Of the kings of the Norsemen!
Thou land of sharp swords,
And strong kerns and swift horsemen!
Land ringing with song!
Land, whose abbots and lords,
Whose Heroic and Fair,
Through centuries long,
Made each palace of thine
A new western Walhalla-
Thus to die without sign
On the field of Cean-Salla;


My ship cleaves the wave-
I depart for Iberia-
But, oh! with what grief,
With how heavy and dreary a
Sensation of ill!
I should welcome a grave:
My career has been brief,
But I bow to God's will!
Yet if now all forlorn,
In my green years, I fall, a
Long exile I mourn-
But I mourn for Cean-Salla!






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