Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1873-03-06
The Celtic Tongue.

The following spirited lines were handed
US Tor publication by an Irishman, who
loves the dear, old tongue
'Tis fading, o, It's fading. like leaves upon the
! trees
In murmuring tone It's dying, like the wall up
/ on the breeze!
~Tis swiftly disappearing, A. footprints on the
! shore
where the Barrow. and the Erne and Loeb
swily's waters Iosr-
+ Where the parting sdnbeam kisses Loeb Corrib
in the West.
And Ocean. like s mother, clasps the shannon
To her brcsst,
| The language of old Erin. Of her history snd
OF her monarchs and her hcroes-hcr glory and
her fame
The sacred shrine where rested. thro' sunshine
and thro' gloom
The spirit OF her martvrs as their bodies in the
tomb.
The tiIne-wrought shell. where murmuret mid
centuries Of wrong
The secret voice Of Freedom. in annal and in
song
/ l. slowly. surely sinking, into silent death at
To live but in the memories Of those who love
the Past.
The olden tongue i sinking like a patriarch to
rUst,
Whose youth beheld the Tyrian. on our Irish
coasts 4 guest:
Ere the Roman or the saxon, the Norman or
the Dane.
Had "A Jiirst m;
Whose manhood saw the Druid rite st forest
tree and rock
I And savage tribes OF Britain round the shrines
of Lernebock.t
And for generations witnessed sll the glories Of
Gael.
Since our Celtic sires sang war-song- round the
sacred fire. Of BaAl
The to-gues that saw it, infancy ar ranked
among the dead.
And from their graves have risen those now
spoken in their stead.
The glories of Old Erin, with her liberty have
gone,
Yet their halo linger'd round her, while the
Gaelic speech liv'd on;
| For mid the desert Of her woe, monument
more vast
| Than all her pillar-tower,, 1t stood-that old
Tongue OF the Past.
'Tis leaving, and forever, the sOil that gave it
birth.
| Soon.-yery soon, its moving tones shall ne'er
| be heard on earth.
Ger the island dimIy fading, a a circle Ger the
| wave
Receding as its people lisp the language Of the
And with it too seem fading as sunset into
! night
The scattered rays Of liberty that fingered in
! its light,
For ah: Tho long, with flial love, it elung to
motherland
And Irshmen were Irish still, in language.
heart and hand:
T'instali its Saxon Rival, prescribed it soon
became,
And Irishmen are Irish now in nothing but in
name,
The Saxon chains our rights and tongues alike
doth hold in thrall,
Save where amid the Connaught wilds and hills
Of Donegal
And by the shores of Munster, like the broad
Atlantic blast.
The olden language fingers yet and binds Us TO
the Past.
Thro' cold neglect It's dying now; 8 stranger
No Tara's hall re-echoes to its mnsic as of yore-
No Lawreuces fires the Celtic clans round Atha
| clee-
No Shannon WAITS from Limerick towers theil
war-songs to the sea
All. magic Tongue, that round us wove it,
spell so soft and dear.
All. pleasant Tongue, whose murmurs were a,
music to the ear.
All. glorious Tongue, whose accents could escl
Celtic heart enthrall.
All. rushing Tongue, that sounded like tn
swollen torrents fall.
The Tongue, that in the Senate was lightnin!
flashing bright
Whose echo in the battle was the thunder il
]
That Tongue, which once in cheftain's bal
poured loud the minstrel lay,
As chieftain, serf, minstrel Old is silent ther
. to-day.
That Tongue whose shout dismayed the foe q
kens and Mullaghmast.a
Like those who nobly perished there is number
ed with the Past.
The Celtic Tongue is passing, and We stan
coldly by
Without psng within the heart, s tear With
the eye
Without one pulse for Freedom stirred one e
fort made TO save
The Language of our Fathers from dark obll'
ions grave.
: o, Erin vain your efforts-your prayers fo
Freedoms crown,
, Whilst offered in the language of the foe til;
!. Glove il down:
II Be sure that tyrants ever with an art frol
darkness sprung.
Would make the conquered nation slaves alik
in limb and tongue;
Russia's great Gar ne'er stood secure o'er Pt
lands shattsr'd frame.
l. Until he trampled from her heart the tongi
that bore her name.
o, Irishmen, be Irish still stand for the de-
old tongue
Which as ivy to a ruin to your native land b
J. clung!
Q, snatch the relic from the wreck. the ou
and the last
And cherish In your heart of hearts. the la
guage Of the Past.