The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1890-03-15
$1.5O PER YEAR

$3.50 PER YEAR
But the glory be gone and the hope fade away,
Thy name, loved Erin, shall iivein his songs.
Not even in the hour when his heart is most gay,
I Will he lose the remembrance Of thee aud thy
wrongs! M
The stranger shall hear thy lament on his plains;
The sigh of the harp shall be sent DER the
It'll thy masters themselves, rs they rivet thy
! chains,
Shall pause at the song of their captive. and
weep.
Ihe general effect of Irish music is
sad. even at it's merriest moods. for. it
always seems too merry to last. But
there is another side, or rather. many
other sides. 1t has been said bv great
English poet that the Irish have written
for instance, the two best drinking
songs: The ''Cruiskeen Lawn" and
''Pass Round the Wine.'
| There is an old saying if you plead for
your love or your life, plead in Irish.
The language itself deserves this praise,
for it is expressive Of the tenderest feel
ing. There is something inexpresslblY
touching in some Of the old Irish songs.
in which the refrain Is in the original
Gaelic, as if the people all loved their
dear old tongue, aud held it back for
the last and tenderest words. @
| In the last part of the eighteenth cen-
tury the Irish were Obliged TO hide thely
! patriotic allusiUns to the Gaelic tongue
or under the form of aliegory. LIS re-
markable that the Irish have ALWAYS ad-
dressed their country as of dark hair,
never fair. This is probably because of
their Asiatic origin. The Irish may
well be proud Of their poems Of affection
and love, and some of their oldest are
undoubtedly their very best. No p1o-
pie probably have exceeded their depth
ut beauty Of expression. Tt was Samuel
ferguson who wrote:
Put your head. darling, darling. darling,
Put your darling black head, my heart above,
Oil mouth Of honey, with the thyme for fra
lsC!uCe,
Who. with heart in breast could deny you love2
Oh. many and many q young girl me ID
pining,
! Letting her locks of gold to the cold winGg
tree,
For me, the foremost of our aav young fellowat
| But Id leave a hundred. pure love, for Il e.,
! Then put YOUR head, darling, darling. darlin1s
| Your darling black head, my heart above,
I <,P vJift Il n,E,p f->r
GRANGE.
Who, with heart In breast would deny YOU lQve2
This from another writer, Edward
| Walsh by name:
am wandering minstrel man.
| And love my only theme;
| I've strayed beside the pleasant Bann.
And exc the Shannons stream:
| I've piped and played to wife and maid
| BY Barrow. SUR and More,
But never met maiden yet
Like Brighidin ban store.
Nv girl hath ringiets rich and rare,
By nature fingers +,G
I4och-Curras swan is not 80 fair
| AS is her breast Of love:
And when she moves. in Sunday sheen,
| Beyond the cottage door,
| I'd scorn the high-born Saxon queen
! For Brighidin ban mo store.
| 1t ts not that thy smile is sweet
| And soft thy voice OF song
! 1t is not that thou feest to meet
| My coming lone and long!
But thee doth rest beneath thy breast,
A heart Of purest core.
Whose pulse is known to ma alone,
| MY Hrighidin ban mo store.
One of the most popular and effective
poems of the last century was Shan
Van Volcht. No soDg of the Irish geo.
pie has had greater popularity than che
one written in 1907. when the French
| fleet landed III Bantry Bay.
| The French are on the sea,
Says the Shan Van Voicht.
| And they'll be here without delay.
Says the Shan Van VOicht.
Concluding with
Then hurrah for liberty
Says the Shan Van Votcht
One of the songs said to be the finest
of all the music of Ireland is undonbt-
edlY the oldest. 1t is the Coulleen. This
song is truly national treasure, richer
than wreath Of diamonds, FOR no one
can steal it.awaY. ard it proves the SUI
perior refinement Of the people WHO
could write and appreciate such an +x-
quisite thing. If one of the leading
characteristics of Irish poetry is its sad
ness, another is its mirth. There 10
also fine melody at times in Irish
songs that has hardly ever been equalled
in English verse, which is a direct in
heritaDce from the Gaelic poetry.
One Of the greatest families of Irish
poets, or, indeed, the poets of any coun.
try, were the famous Sheridans. r ch-
ard Brinsley Sheridan is one Of the
names written near the top of the long
illustrious line of orators insthe Eng
lish language. Brinsley Sheridan has q
double fame, for he also heads the list
Of modern dramatlsts in the English
tongue No songs are kindier to wards b