Poem by Clinton Scollard

Abbeydorney

  Abbeydorney, Abbeydorney,
    Long ago thy race was run,
  Prone thou art 'mid thickets thorny,
    Shrine of Kyrie Eleison!

  Scarcely now a wild rose petal
    The neglected cloister owns,
  And the flaunting dock and nettle
    Wave above the chancel stones.

  Once through Kerry twilights tender
    Vesper bells their anthems tolled,
  And 'mid chants, in churchly splendor,
    Princely abbots were enrolled.

  Tall Fitz Maurice with his crozier,
    O'Clonarchy of Lismore,
  They are less now than the osier
    Swaying by the Cashen's shore!

  Only when the moon is hidden,
    Only when the moor-winds rave,
  Eerily arise unbidden
    Ghostly transept, ghostly nave.

  Only when the night grows denser
    March the bent monks one by one,
  Singing to the sway of censer,
    _Kyrie--Kyrie Eleison!_

  So, amid thy thickets thorny,
    All thy state and glory seem,
  Abbeydorney, Abbeydorney,
    Like a dim and fleeting dream!

1. The Mist and the Sea
2. Night Song by the Sea
3. The Way of the Cross
4. The Wind of Mourne
5. The Hunter

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