The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-06-08
IRISH AUTHORS today
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While all of the prominent members
of the present Irish literary movement,
says NJ. j. Murphy, are rendering mag
nificent seryeice to their native country,
| in establishing a school Of literature,
the high standards Of which must re-
ceive universal recognition in the near
future, few Of them have written any
thing of a stirring, patriotic char acters
| capable of firing the souls Of men, Or
kindling the hearts of the people as they
were fired by the songs of Thomas Davis
and the other giants Of AS. Alfred
| Perceyel Graves has given us some he
roic songs that deserve to be preserved
for all time. Nothing could be finer
than his Lament for Owen Roe" The
March Of the Mcguire" or his Ancient
Battle Hymn but, while the educated
reader may drink them in with delight,
and the well trained singer render them
| 10 the admiration Of cultured audience
they are. not for the masses. His
Flight Of the Earls'' is a beautiful song,
| yet who ever hears it in public? In
strong contrast to this we have DR..
| Joyce's "Boys of wexford sung to the
same air and a poem whose only merit
| consists in that peculiar quality of fast
ening itself upon the popular ear, dinn-
ed in our ear eternally by bands, street
urchins and even from the concert plat
form. From literary standpoint there
can be no comparison between the Tyr
les, yet DR.. Joyce has given the people
a poem that may render more service, in
the character Of Marseillaise, than the
more finished song of Mr.. Graves. OF
the many lyrics written by DR.. Douglas
Hyde, Lionel Johnson, Or. Todhunter
and other clever men, the same might
be said; their literary merit cannot be
denied, but they are not In touch with
the people.
Francis A. Fahey, is writer who
seems to have struck the popular vein
in his productions. Like Mr., Graves,
he has written a number of songs to
familiar airs, and as they are all Of the
"catching' order they sink deep in
the fancy of the masses. In reading
his songs one is struck with the pecul-
liar domin alton of the national spirit
in them. 1t is interviewer with every
other sentiment of the poem and seems
inseparable from his verse Even in
his songs of affection, begun in a tender
strain, we hear the tread Of the soldier
and the Jingle Of his sabre. 1t is par
ticularly noticeable in
IAN o6tD IRISH 1 H{5F, IN THE MORN
NY soul ever signs for a sight of the sea,
town,
Though naughty it's mansions and high its
Oh, if some good fairy would set me down
On an old Irish hill in the morning!
My soul ever siciSens for a sight Of the seas
My dear old Kinvara, or down ny kil &c
Or where paother cliffs n their majesty rree
An old Irish hill where the crag is so steep,
The, air is so sweet and the heather so
Oh. gladly I'd labor and soundly I'd sleep
qh an old aa,, Irish y 9 IN the eGnl Mf{tn
the same affectionate yearning for home,
the poet breaks out with the following
song:
But II the day came for the bold mountain
eer
To strike for the hearths and the homes we
And ringing on high On the startled sir
The blast of the bugles gave warning
Oh! where could our boys make sturtlier
To strike stout blow for the cause OF our
land, gg
Than massed in their might on the sides
81 an Old irish hill i'll the morning!
From an old Irish hlll--oh: like eagles wed
And chase the false foe through the valley
like sheep
Oh, a harvest of hope for cur Erin wed
on an old Irish hill In the morning!
The fiene swinging rythrn Of this
song is enough to make the song pop
ular apart from the sentiment. Any
Irishman who could read the last verse
of this and be unimpressed by it, must,
indeed, be rather lithoidal in the car
diac region. Mr.. Fahey has written q
unmber Of either excellent songs in the
same vein, but they are little too
lengthy for insertion here. This Is his
prime fault. He is apt to get interested
in his subject and bring it out at too
great length. I do not wish the
reader to infer from this that the poems
suffer in merit. or as they say in the
West "peter out, y for no matter at
what length they are written, the quail
ity never deterioriates for moment. !
mean, they are a trihe too long for popu-
liar use. One OF the most swinging Of
them all is too long for the insertion Of
the entire ballad here, but q few verses
will make the reader acquainted with
WHEN =. PAT COMES n5$Af MAR s: HOME
When Pat comes marching home again
To claim his own.
No more afar to roam again, 5
Exised alone; .. n .& =
From Austral wiIds, Canadian foods 3 '
TO claim his plundered rights and roods--
When Pat comes marching home.
The misty wales that shrouded wept 81 "a
The hills that mournful virgil kept, s
His hour shall know b ,s.
Shall hear his voice. shall feel his tread
TnFGoqEh f1ag FseHs aa rend
[ When Pat comes marching home.
oh! We who toll in gloom and night
To free her from the wasting blight
OF alien laws!
Toll on hope on, in steadfast cheer,
The night flies past, the day is near
That true men wait that foemen fear,
All Of Mr.. Fahey's songs are not In
this same serious strain, however. In
the lighter and more numerous verses
he is among the best Of the day. In
.sThe humor Of ireland 4 D. j. ODono-
ghne's splendid collection Of Irish wit
and humor, we find no less than four
different articles by him, and he IS a.
coilaborator with Mr.. Douglas Hyde
in another. His poem, eThe Ameri-
can Wake,'' is one Of the best known
OF his compositions, and has sbeen
widely copied. Another, The Dono-
vans was given considerable publicity
/ in the state Of Michigan after last
years state campaign, when the famous
Donovan of Bay was elected, the only