The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1868-04-22

E RIMS 4 L A G.

ERIN'S FLAG.
BY REV. a. j. RYAN (aoINA).
respectfully Inscribed to his friends in Nash
rille
Unroll Erins flag fling its folds to the
breeze!
Let it float Ger the land, let it flash DER
the seas;
Lift it out Of the dust-let it wave as of
gore,
When its chiefs, with their clans, stood
around it and swore
That never! no! never, that Banner would
yield
So long as the heart Of Celt was its
shield;
While the hand of Celt had weapon to
WELD,
And his last drop of blood was unshed on
the field.
Lift it up! wave it high tits as bright as
of old.
Not stain on its Green, not blot on its
God,
Though the woes and the wrongs of three
hundred long years
Have drenched Erin's Sunburst with blood
and with tears;
Though the clouds of oppression enshroud
1t in gloom,
And around it the thunders of tyranny
boom.
Look aloft! look aloft 10 the clouds drift.
ing by,
There's CLEAN through the gloom, there's
light in the sky;
IT'S the Sunburst resplendent-far, flashing
on high!
Erin's dark night is waning, her day dawn
is nigh
Lift it up! lift it up the old Banner Of
Green!
The blood of its sons has but frightened
its sheen;
What Though the tyrant has trampled
it down,
Are its folds not emblazoned with deeds of
renownl
What!-though for ages it droops in the
dust,
Shall it droop thus forever9 No, no! God
is just!
Take it up! take it up! from the tyrants
foul tread
Let him tear not the Flag-we will snatch
it's last shred
And beneathit we'll bleed as our forefath-
ers bled,
And we'll VOW by the dust in the graves of
our dead.
Aud we'll swear by the blood which the
tyrant has she'd!
And we'll VOW by the wrecks which thro'
Erin he spread;
And we'll swear by the thousands who,
famished. unfed,
Died down,in the. ditches-wildj bowling
for bread;
And we'll VOW by our heroes, whose spirits
have fed,
And We'll swear by the bones in each cof-
fnleSs bed,
That we'll battle the tyrant through dan.
ger and dread;
That we'll cling to the cause which we glo-
ry to wed,
IT'LL the CLEAN of our steel and The shock
of orr lead
Shall prove to our foes that we meant
what we said
That we'd fit up the Green. and we'd tear
down the Red. 5=h~ Dbl
Lift up the Green Flag! oh! it wants to
go home,
Full long has its lot been to. wander and
roam;
1t has followed the fate of its sons DER the
world, ~
But it's folds, like their hopes, are not fa-
ded nor furled;
Like weary-winged bird, to the East and
the West,
It has fitted and fed but it never shall
rest, .a
Till pluming its pinions, itsweeps DER the
81 main, h. a III ls
And speeds to the shores of its old home
... again, RYE
Where it's fetterless folds, DER each noun
tain and plain,
Shall wave with a glory that never shall
wane. g,ja94 H.
Take it up! take it up! bear it back from
That Banner must blaze mid the light
nings of war;
Lay your hands on its folds, lift your gaze
to the sky,
Aud swear that you'll bear it triumphant
,is or die,
And shout to the clans, scattered far Ger
the earth,
TO join in the march to the land of their
.1n birth; Wb I
And wherever the Exiles, meath heavens
I'll broad dome, @ Hia 10
Have been fated to suffer, to sorrow and
roam,
They'll bonnd con the sea, and away DER
5 the foam, SD
They'll march to the music of Home,
re Sweet Home" .tft1
"A WOMaN'S 'sNO.v