The Irish standard., 1886-11-13
SHAMROCKS Vi FROM ERIN. i: n.
VISION OF KING BRIAN. ! .
,Hz NIGHT BEFORE ran BATTLE or chosrARE.'

qtr1E NIGHT BEFORE THE bA1IAh We o oA1O' : 1>As'
The great old I,ish houses, the proud Old Irish
names,
r;ta stars upon the midnight, to-day their
luster CLEANS
Gene are the great old houses-the proud old
names are low,
That shed a glory DER the land thousand
rbese were the great old houses DER whom q
spirit held
Mystic watching at lies closing, in the distant
days of old;
f,et eoretold they of deaths advent in a slowly
chanted wall.
And often in the tones that glad warrior in
his mail.
And wheresoeer scion Of those great old
houses be,
In the country OF his fathers, or the lands be-
yond the sea,
u, city, or in hamlet, by the valley, on the hil
The spirit of his brave old sires is watching Ger
him still
twas thus before the battle that freed the
Irish land,
That crushed the Dane forever on Cl,ntarf's
empurpled strand.
twas thus that brave King Briau, at the mid
hour Of the night,
Ssw 81 vision as he slumbered, betitting kinyly
sight.
woman pale and beautiful-a woman sad
and fair
Proud and stately was her stature, black and
flowir. was her hair;
White as snow the robe around her, floating
shedow-like and free,
Whilst with Il silver trumpets tone, to the
sleeper thus spoke she:
''King! unto thee It's given, to triumph Ger
the Dane
TO drive his routed army forth unto the north
ern main;
But the palace of thy fathers thou shalt never
sec again,
Thou, and the son thou lowest, shall sleep
among the slain.
t'Ya fal into the future thy memory shall live,
And to the souls Of men unborn n glorious iln-
pulse give;
Thy dynasty shall perish before tactious band,
But thy spirit shall forever dwell upon the
Irish land
Men yet unborn shall know thee as thy co,ln
try's sword and shield,
Wise and prudent in the council, brave and
ski]ful in the field,
W1en tle IuCClOuS una lue SpOllEIs Sudll
tramplc on tho free,
They will pray to God to raise them a Deliverer
like thee
''rhou shalt leave unto thy country, mid the
nations, proud name;
Thou shalt leave it peace aud freedom, and
bright and glorious fame
Thou shalt leave it appraised affairs, happy
homes and smiling fields,
Where the soHer shall be reaper Of what Kea~
ven's bounty yields.
Yet trampling on the country the spoilers foot,
shall come
Wood to conquest and to plunder by factious
feu!l at home;
Miesian with Miesian shall battle day by day
Till the glory OF the Irish land shall pass from
it itawuy.
and brand,
With foreign swords and foreign laws, black
heart and bloody hand;
They will trample ON the altar, they will desc
crate the shrine, ..-
Aud polute each holy relic that thy country
hold divine.
But thy country shall stand iirm thro' plunder
and thco' seattle,
SA>o>> S"A~'A" A"AS A~0" OS-~"S
Grated faith;
Though her altar be in ruins, though her con-
querOrs slay and rive.
Yet, despite of ban or guertson, her faith SHALL
still survive.
THY country's best and bravest shall struggle
long in vain.
AUD some shall seek in distant lands to scape
a conqueror's chain;
And some shall fall from princely hall, cen to
the peasants shed,
And many on hor hard fought fields shau slun,-
ber with the dead.
lut the God whose hand is stretched forth, thy
country TO chastise,
prostrate rise;
seal is set,
And His mercy ay, it shall gush forth to vvify
heryet.
In her deepest hour OF sorrow, in her hour OF |
darkest shame,
,hy country still will treasure the glory of thy |
name. i
q her greatest hour of triumph, when her his
tory shall bear
10 the future all her glory, thine shall be fore
most there
70 more spike she unto him, but passed like
mist away,
Us it floats up from the valley beneath the
summer ray
No more spoke she unto him, but ever on the
gale,
iJntil the hour of dawnng, came low and my
site wall.
Sext day, amid the foremost, brave Morrogh
fighting fell,
The flower of Irish chivalry-the son he loved
go we'll:
And from our shores forever was swept that
day the Dane
3u' the old King and his valiant sou were num-
bered with the slain!
SIhe battle of Clontarf was fought on Good
sriday, 23d April. 1Ql4
SHE rs FAR FROM THE LAND.
BY THOMAsMO0RE.