 | With the Wild Geese |  |
17
CREMONA
1702
Midwinter and midnight
Was the hour of that fight,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Every Frenchman soundly sleeping.
“Fortressed cities need no keeping;
Let the Irish guard the town.”
Was the hour of that fight,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Every Frenchman soundly sleeping.
“Fortressed cities need no keeping;
Let the Irish guard the town.”
Homesick, sad, and weary,
Heartsick, hungry, dreary,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
O'Brien, Burke, and Tracy,
Macmahon, Dillon, Lacy,
We watched Cremona town.
Heartsick, hungry, dreary,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
18
Macmahon, Dillon, Lacy,
We watched Cremona town.
“What mean those distant sounds!”
As the famished panther bounds,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
So he bounded through the gate.
“Rouse ye, comrades, ye are late!
Prince Eugene has your town!”
As the famished panther bounds,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
So he bounded through the gate.
“Rouse ye, comrades, ye are late!
Prince Eugene has your town!”
The town, but not quite all:
On that furthest western wall
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Sat a cheerless, sleepless band,
Far from home, and kith, and land.
“Up, boys, up! Save the town!”
On that furthest western wall
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Sat a cheerless, sleepless band,
Far from home, and kith, and land.
“Up, boys, up! Save the town!”
19
“Down, and fight them in the streets!”
As the Nore the Barrow meets,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
So we swept across their track,
Swept across, and hemmed them back
From Cremona town.
As the Nore the Barrow meets,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
So we swept across their track,
Swept across, and hemmed them back
From Cremona town.
“Are ye mad, or in a trance?
Waken, gentlemen of France!”
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
“See your lilied flags are flapping,
And your Marshal is caught napping
In Cremona town.”
Waken, gentlemen of France!”
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
“See your lilied flags are flapping,
And your Marshal is caught napping
In Cremona town.”
Again and yet again,
Though the third of us are slain,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Though Sieur Villeroy is taken,
And the lilied flags are shaken,
Till our tardy comrades waken
We keep the town.
Though the third of us are slain,
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
20
And the lilied flags are shaken,
Till our tardy comrades waken
We keep the town.
Hither, thither goes the fight,
Through the murk and glare of night.
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Every exiled son of Clare,
From Kinvarra to Adair,
The whole Brien stock is there,
In the black heart of the town.
Through the murk and glare of night.
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Every exiled son of Clare,
From Kinvarra to Adair,
The whole Brien stock is there,
In the black heart of the town.
“Ha! they waken up at last!
Hark again, that rallying blast,”
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
“Now charge them with the lance,
Stop the German dogs' advance,
Drive them, gentlemen of France,
From Cremona town.”
Hark again, that rallying blast,”
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
21
Stop the German dogs' advance,
Drive them, gentlemen of France,
From Cremona town.”
“Back to back, and face to face,
Wrest from fate this night's disgrace”
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Ere the sun rose from its bed
Or that livid dawn grew red
Every German spear had fled
From Cremona town.
Wrest from fate this night's disgrace”
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Ere the sun rose from its bed
Or that livid dawn grew red
Every German spear had fled
From Cremona town.
So failed Eugene's advance,
So fail all foes of France!
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
Let her praises still resound,
And while the world goes round
To their praise too redound
Who stood the victors crowned
In Cremona town.
So fail all foes of France!
(Shout, boys, Erin's the renown!)
22
And while the world goes round
To their praise too redound
Who stood the victors crowned
In Cremona town.
| With the Wild Geese | |