Ballads of Irish chivalry By Robert Dwyer Joyce: Edited, with Annotations, by his brother P. W. Joyce |
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THE BANKS OF ANNER. |
 | Ballads of Irish chivalry |  |
205
THE BANKS OF ANNER.
I
In purple robes old SlievenamonTowers monarch of the mountains,
The first to catch the smiles of dawn
With all his woods and fountains;—
His streams dance down by tower and town,
But none since Time began her
Met mortal sight so pure and bright
As winding wandering Anner.
II
In hillside gleam or woodland gloom,O'er fairy height and hollow,
Upon the banks gay flowerets bloom
Where'er her course I follow.
And halls of pride tower o'er her tide,
And gleaming bridges span her,
As, laughing gay, she winds away,
The gentle murmuring Anner.
III
There gallant men, for freedom born,With friendly grasp will meet you;
There lovely maids as bright as morn
With sunny smiles will greet you;
And there they strove the Red above
To raise Green Ireland's banner—
There yet its fold they'll see unrolled
Upon the banks of Anner.
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IV
May Heav'n be with the good old days,The days so light and airy,
When to blithe friends I sang my lays
In gallant gay Tipperary;
When fair maids' sighs and witching eyes
Made my young heart the planner
Of castles rare built in the air,
Upon the banks of Anner.
V
The morning sun may fail to showHis light, the earth illuming;
Old Slievenamon to blush and glow
In autumn's purple blooming;
The shamrock green no more be seen,
And breezes cease to fan her,
Ere I forget the friends I met
Upon the banks of Anner.
| Ballads of Irish chivalry | |