The Irish standard., 1896-09-05
beloved land.

The Hero Of Galahy tonightr'
And again describing the ghost in his
poem, THE White Lady:
''At midnight through the open trellfces
I. the Warden often sees
Her moon-pale drapery flooding down the
long dim galleries.
Poor Mangan loved his country with an
all absorbing passion, and delighted to dwell
in his poetry on the days Of her ancient
glory
Look at this picture he dreams of Con-
naught in the thirteenth century:
+ Il walk'd entranced
Through land of morn;
The sun, with wondrous excess Of light,
I Shone down and glanced
Over the seas of corn.
And lustrous gardens aleft and right,
Even in the cline
OF resplendent Spain,
Beams no such sun upon such land;
But it was the time,
Twas in the reign,
Of Cahal Nor Of the wine-red hand.''
It was by the stream
OF the castled Maine,
One autumn eve, in the Teuton's land
That dreamed this dream
OF the time and reign
or Cahal Nor of the wine-red hand"
He was In perfect touch and sympathy
with that wonderful growth Of men who
started the Young Irelanl'' movement
That movement is unique in that it was
directed almost entirely by literary men
poets, orators, essayists and journalists
Among Mangan's poems Ozark Rosaleen"
has generally been considered his master
piece. 1t is an imprisoned song, supposed
to be addressed to Ireland by RED Hugh
O'Dorne.l' bidding her be OF good cheer
and announcing to her the approach Of
Spanish and Papal assistance. It presents
an example Of the mastery use of the re-
frain for which Mangan IS celebrated.
The Time Of the Barmecides." still an
other fine instaice Of this artict;c skill
The story Of the poets blighted love ie
tod with Infinite pathos in that saddest Of
love ballads, II saw her oIlce one little
while and then no more" and two a1tob:o-
graphical poems, 1.-THE Name,ess One"
and Twenty Golden Years Ago. which
shock the mind by theii. tone of hopeless
despair, give us a grim glimpse into the
Clmmerian darkness which brooded over
the life path poor Mangan had to tread
Mangan, like all the other Irish poets Of
that period, believed in physical force and
in it only.
Glow long, o Mother of light and song
How long will they fail to see,
That men must be bold no less than strong
If they truly will to be free.
They SIT but In silent sadness;
While wrongs that should rouse them to
madness -"
Wrongs that would wake the very dead,
Are heaped on thy devoted head''
How magnificently Davis, in his In
nlent for Owen Roe O'Neill,'' describes the
scene OF weakness and desolation that fell
upon the confederate Irish after the death
of that mighty soldier.
In the history of the worlds literature
there IS perhaps only one writer who re-
sembles Mangan, and that one is E. A.
Poe, the American poet.
They both alike were masters of all the
incest subtleties of Verse music; Both were
masters OF that gorgeous poetic exotic-the
refrain Both lived unhapp:ly and died
mlserably. Neither Of them in his lifetime
enjoyed the full need Of his fame, bit the
America n>poet during the brief period of
his married life enjoyed the pleasures of
requited love in the society of Virginia
GLENN, his radiant child wife, whom he
has immortalzed in "Annabel Lee 1.-THE
Raven" and "Lenore," but Mangan's life
was barren; even in this. HIS love was
b,ighted and he sank into his Glasnevin
grave unloved. His renown has been i'll
creastng since his death, and John Mitchell,
in his beautiful sketch of the poets life.
stated that he is regarded by all cultured
Irishmen as the most highly gifted poetic
spirit ever produced in Erin of the
Streams 4-
The writer who exercised the most infu-
ence over Ir.shmen of all that wonderful
staff of the Nation, was Thomas 0. Davis.
Thomas o. Davis was born at Mallow on
the river Blackwater,, in the county Of
Cork, some time III 1914. His father was
a Welshman, but was settled in Ireland for
many years before the poets birth. His
mother was an Irish lady. On the lovely
banks of the "Avondheu," Spencer's "Auni
diff amid scenery unsurpassed in ireland
the romantic imagination OF Davis wat; fos=
tered. There amid the primitive and sim
pie peasantry who still retained most Of
the customs of the race, the wakes cairns
weddings and patters Of elder DAVIS Inn
bibed that deep and passionate love not
merely for the people, but for the woods,
streams, hills, and for the very soil itself
WuCu gives tucll 6AdAAOA " GA
his compositions. Davis received ali excel
lent education and entered Trinity College.
where his reading wide and discursive, was
not Of that nature calculated to win stu
dent distinction in his undergraduate
course. He came through the curriculum
creditably enough, but his spring gave no
indication Of the glorious summer Of
achievement which was to follow. His
poetry, splendid as It is, is but small
portion Of Davis, and he never appears to
have. been conscious Of the possession Of
poetic genius till the idea of tousing the
martial spirit OF his country were by means
OF ballad poetry assured tn him. He per-
sunally conducted this branch OF the paper
himself, and produced some work which
will only perish with the English language
and the Irish race. Since the legended
days Of Hellas, when Tyitast1s sent by the
Athenians to Sparta in complianee with
the Delphic Oracle, rottsed by his fiery
songs, the fadntifg courage Of the Lace
daemonians In their war with the Messe-
mans no writer succeeded ~ did Davis III
awkening the dormant energies Of people.
His war pieces. .Fontenoy'' and the Sack
Of Baltimore have never been surpassed
for yigor and descriptive power.
His love songs are gems; and are full Of
true Cello tenderness. His love of liberty
was intense. 4 He desired to see all nations
free and self-goverhed. He was thorough
~ aware that no people had ever been
4dis6htiiralled by the expenditure Ut mere.