Poem by Thomas Moore

From “Irish Melodies”. 104. As Vanquish’d Erin

          AS vanquish’d Erin wept beside
                The Boyne’s ill-fated river,
          She saw where Discord, in the tide,
                Had dropp’d his loaded quiver.
          "Lie hid," she cried, "ye venom’d darts,
                Where mortal eye may shun you;
          Lie hid — the stain of manly hearts,
                That bled for me, is on you."

          But vain her wish, her weeping vain —
                As Time too well hath taught her —
          Each year the Fiend returns again,
                And dives into that water;
          And brings, triumphant, from beneath
                His shafts of desolation,
          And sends them, wing’d with worse than death,
                Through all her maddening nation.

          Alas for her who sits and mourns,
                Even now, beside that river —
          Unwearied still the Fiend returns,
                And stored is still his quiver.
          "When will this end, ye Powers of Good?"
                She weeping asks for ever;
          But only hears, from out that flood,
                The Demon answer, "Never!"

1. From “The Odes of Anacreon”. Ode 65
2. From “Irish Melodies”. 115. Song of Innisfail
3. From “Irish Melodies”. 9. Though the Last Glimpse of Erin With Sorrow I See
4. From “The Odes of Anacreon”. Ode 34
5. From “Irish Melodies”. 99. ’Twas One of Those Dreams

Print

2011 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version