 | A Song of Heroes |  |
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COLUMBA.
I will sing a song of heroes,
When the ages rang the knell
Of the iron-hearted Rome,
That like a palsied Titan fell.
When the ages rang the knell
Of the iron-hearted Rome,
That like a palsied Titan fell.
Of that foul Ægean stable,
Where the rank corruption grew,
Paul's sure word made sweeping clearance;
Old things passed away, and new
Where the rank corruption grew,
Paul's sure word made sweeping clearance;
Old things passed away, and new
Shot into life. I sing Columba,
Born far West in sea-girt home,
In the clovered green Ierne
Named, not known, by mighty Rome.
Born far West in sea-girt home,
In the clovered green Ierne
Named, not known, by mighty Rome.
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God hath chosen the barbarian,
Things unvalued, worthless, weak,
To abase the lordly Roman,
To confound the subtle Greek.
Things unvalued, worthless, weak,
To abase the lordly Roman,
To confound the subtle Greek.
Vainly had imperial rancour
Like a sanguine deluge spread,
When the axe of Diocletian
Severed Alban's holy head.
Like a sanguine deluge spread,
When the axe of Diocletian
Severed Alban's holy head.
Vainly might the painted idols
Bar from light their dark dominion;
In the far Galwegian outland
Rose the pure white shrine of Ninian.
Bar from light their dark dominion;
In the far Galwegian outland
Rose the pure white shrine of Ninian.
Like the coming of the swallows,
When sweet showers uncoil the fern,
Came a host of God-sent teachers,
Serf, Palladius, Kentigern,
When sweet showers uncoil the fern,
Came a host of God-sent teachers,
Serf, Palladius, Kentigern,
To redeem from heathen darkness
All the roving Scots that be,
Where the huge-heaved Grampian bulwark
Slopeth eastward to the sea.
All the roving Scots that be,
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Slopeth eastward to the sea.
To the fierce hot-blooded Erin
Patrick brought the Gospel grace;
But brawls and battles, feuds and factions,
Swayed the old untempered race
Patrick brought the Gospel grace;
The Irish saint was a Scot, born at Kilpatrick in Dumbartonshire. See the article “Patricus” in Smith's ‘Dictionary of Christian Biography,’ by Dr Stokes of Dublin University; and Bishop Forbes's ‘Calendar of Scottish Saints,’ Edinburgh, 1872. Anyhow, he was a Celt, not a Saxon—as the body of the Scottish people, up to the time of Malcolm Canmore, specially in those western parts, was decidedly Celtic.
But brawls and battles, feuds and factions,
Swayed the old untempered race
Then, when Phelim's son far-venturing
From the wooded hill of Derry,
Through the foamy Loch Foyle waters
Northward sailed in wicker wherry.
From the wooded hill of Derry,
Through the foamy Loch Foyle waters
Northward sailed in wicker wherry.
For a ban was laid upon him,
For that once in plunge of passion
He had drawn the sword of vengeance,
In a hot unpriestly fashion,
For that once in plunge of passion
He had drawn the sword of vengeance,
In a hot unpriestly fashion,
At the battle of Culdreimhne,
When from all the brave O'Neills
Diarmid and the men of Connaught
Fled with terror at their heels.
In the barony of Carberry, between Drumcliff and Sligo, on the borders of Ulster and Connaught, a.d. 561. The whole details of the text are taken from Adamnan's life of the saint by Reeves, and from local study of the ground at Iona, where I resided ten days in a comfortable inn apart from the hasty sweep of steamboat tourists.
When from all the brave O'Neills
Diarmid and the men of Connaught
Fled with terror at their heels.
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Malise, priest of Innish Murry,
On Columba laid the ban,
Through Hebridean seas to voyage
And convert the Pictish clan.
On Columba laid the ban,
Through Hebridean seas to voyage
And convert the Pictish clan.
And with twelve high-souled companions
He cut through the briny spray,
Till he came where whistling west winds
Flout the front of Colonsay.
He cut through the briny spray,
Till he came where whistling west winds
Flout the front of Colonsay.
But not halted there; for clearly,
When the sun unveiled the morn,
Thence he saw the dear-loved Erin
Which his chaste vow had forsworn.
When the sun unveiled the morn,
Thence he saw the dear-loved Erin
Which his chaste vow had forsworn.
Northward, northward, ever northward,
Through the wild waves' tumbling roar,
Where through ragged drift of storm-cloud
Frowned the dark cone of Ben More.
Through the wild waves' tumbling roar,
Where through ragged drift of storm-cloud
Frowned the dark cone of Ben More.
On he steered through heaving waters,
Plash of waves, and windy roar,
Till he came to where Iona
Steeply piles her southmost shore.
Plash of waves, and windy roar,
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Steeply piles her southmost shore.
There no more might view of Erin
Tempt his chaste eye to look back,
Tempt his heart with homeward longings
To retrace the briny track.
Tempt his chaste eye to look back,
Tempt his heart with homeward longings
To retrace the briny track.
There he moored his boat, his currach,
In the lone rock-girdled bay,
Where with wondering eye the stranger
Notes it fossiled in the clay.
In the lone rock-girdled bay,
Where with wondering eye the stranger
Notes it fossiled in the clay.
Nor halted there, but for to breathe
The landward air a little space:
Eastward then with foot unwearied
He pursued the holy chase;
The landward air a little space:
Eastward then with foot unwearied
He pursued the holy chase;
For himself, and all that shared
His brave apostleship, he bound
Not to rest till they should greet
The Pictish king on Pictish ground.
His brave apostleship, he bound
Not to rest till they should greet
The Pictish king on Pictish ground.
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Brude his name, whose heathen stronghold
From a lofty seat looks forth,
Where the Ness his broad stream mingles
With the salt sea of the North.
From a lofty seat looks forth,
Where the Ness his broad stream mingles
With the salt sea of the North.
Northward now with foot unwearied
O'er the granite ridge he sped,
Where Ben Nevis, king of mountains,
Stoutly rears his massive head.
O'er the granite ridge he sped,
Where Ben Nevis, king of mountains,
Stoutly rears his massive head.
Up the steep cliffs, down the corrie,
O'er the broad moor's purple breast,
Where link on link of sistered waters
Join the North sea to the West.
O'er the broad moor's purple breast,
Where link on link of sistered waters
Join the North sea to the West.
Now he stands before Dun Phadraig,
Where King Brude in shaggy state
Cinctured sits with hoary Druids,
Brooding o'er the coming Fate.
Where King Brude in shaggy state
Cinctured sits with hoary Druids,
Brooding o'er the coming Fate.
Here he stands with saintly Congall
And with Kenneth of Achaboe
Three in body, one in power,
To lay a host of demons low.
And with Kenneth of Achaboe
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To lay a host of demons low.
For the Druids worshipped demons,
Gods of earth and air and sky,
Peopling land and peopling water
With the glamour of a lie.
Gods of earth and air and sky,
Peopling land and peopling water
With the glamour of a lie.
And with spells and incantations
They did bind the heart of Brude,
That he closed his gates against
The bearers of the holy rood.
They did bind the heart of Brude,
That he closed his gates against
The bearers of the holy rood.
Vainly; saintly Congall lifted
High the virtue of the rood,
And from it flashed a light that smote
With blindness all the sorcerer brood.
High the virtue of the rood,
And from it flashed a light that smote
With blindness all the sorcerer brood.
And Columba, with a potent
Voice like thunder rolling near,
Quelled the king's obdurate stoutness
With a thrill of holy fear.
Voice like thunder rolling near,
Quelled the king's obdurate stoutness
With a thrill of holy fear.
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For he sang a psalm that David
Wont to sing when he arose,
Girt with godlike strength, to prostrate
The dread muster of his foes.
Wont to sing when he arose,
Girt with godlike strength, to prostrate
The dread muster of his foes.
“We have heard it from our fathers,”—
Thus he sang—no idle tale,—
“How the true God o'er the false gods
Where He came did still prevail.
Thus he sang—no idle tale,—
“How the true God o'er the false gods
Where He came did still prevail.
“How Thou didst cast out the heathen,
And Thy people did prevail,
Not by sword and not by horses,
Not by panoply of mail;
And Thy people did prevail,
Not by sword and not by horses,
Not by panoply of mail;
“But by Thy right arm, Jehovah,
And by favour from above,
For that Thou didst hold Thy children
In the strong embrace of love.”
And by favour from above,
For that Thou didst hold Thy children
In the strong embrace of love.”
Thus he sang; and disenchanted
From the Druid's spell, the king
Open flung his oaken gates,
And like a bird with folded wing
From the Druid's spell, the king
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And like a bird with folded wing
Bent the knee before Columba,
Kissed the rood uncrowned and bare:
And with water from the fountain
Gladly they baptised him there.
Kissed the rood uncrowned and bare:
And with water from the fountain
Gladly they baptised him there.
And he rose with brave assurance,
And he told his people all
From the demons' thrall to loose them
At Columba's saintly call.
And he told his people all
From the demons' thrall to loose them
At Columba's saintly call.
And he gave the saint the island
Where he landed for his dower,
There to work in sacred college
God's soul-healing work with power.
Where he landed for his dower,
There to work in sacred college
God's soul-healing work with power.
In an age of rude-armed rapine,
Feuds and wars without release,
There the saintly son of Phelim
Taught the gentle arts of peace.
Feuds and wars without release,
There the saintly son of Phelim
Taught the gentle arts of peace.
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There he led the prattling mill-stream,
There he drained the miry bog,
There he wove the wattled cabin,
Hewed the tree and piled the log.
There he drained the miry bog,
There he wove the wattled cabin,
Hewed the tree and piled the log.
There with spade and hoe and mattock
He laid bare Earth's fruitful breast,
To the wooing of the breezes
Wafted from the genial West.
He laid bare Earth's fruitful breast,
To the wooing of the breezes
Wafted from the genial West.
Oats he reaped and healthful barley
Where the grass once sourly grew,
And where prickly furze was rampant
Apple-blossoms came to view.
Where the grass once sourly grew,
And where prickly furze was rampant
Apple-blossoms came to view.
Honey pilfered from the heather
Wisely in warm hives he stored;
Milk and eggs and fish supplied
Chaste feeding to his sober board.
Wisely in warm hives he stored;
Milk and eggs and fish supplied
Chaste feeding to his sober board.
But with spirit-nurture chiefly
There were fed the saintly men,
Chaunting psalms of holy David,
Writing with a faithful pen.
There were fed the saintly men,
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Writing with a faithful pen.
Evermore at nones and vespers,
Evermore at matin chime,
They made sweet their souls with music
From pure text and holy rhyme.
Evermore at matin chime,
They made sweet their souls with music
From pure text and holy rhyme.
And they did their tale of doing,
Each man to his function true,
With ungrudging sweet obedience
To high-saintly wisdom due;
Each man to his function true,
With ungrudging sweet obedience
To high-saintly wisdom due;
Where the strong man helped the weak man,
And the weak man loved the strong,
And brothered work with work was mingled
Like sweet notes in cunning song.
And the weak man loved the strong,
And brothered work with work was mingled
Like sweet notes in cunning song.
And the old men taught the young men,
Nicely reared in learnèd school,
To subdue the lawless-roving
Heathen to the Christian rule.
Nicely reared in learnèd school,
To subdue the lawless-roving
Heathen to the Christian rule.
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Thirty years and four he taught them,
Sent them missioned o'er the sea,
Sent them southward to Bernicia,
Sent them northward to Maree.
Sent them missioned o'er the sea,
Sent them southward to Bernicia,
Sent them northward to Maree.
Then as good men die he died,
Shedding smiles and blessings round,
At the solemn hour of midnight
Kneeling upon holy ground,
Shedding smiles and blessings round,
At the solemn hour of midnight
Kneeling upon holy ground,
With sweet text from well-conned psalter
In his memory wisely stored,
“No good thing shall e'er be wanting
To His saints that seek the Lord.”
In his memory wisely stored,
“No good thing shall e'er be wanting
To His saints that seek the Lord.”
There he knelt before the altar,
All alone with God in prayer;
And he raised his eyes to heaven,
And beheld in vision fair
All alone with God in prayer;
And he raised his eyes to heaven,
And beheld in vision fair
Angel-faces sweetly beckoning,
And he heard with raptured ear
David's song of liberation
Angel-voices hymning near.
And he heard with raptured ear
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Angel-voices hymning near.
And a glory from the altar
Shone; the church was filled with light,
And the white-smocked brethren saw it
Gleaming through the hazy night.
Shone; the church was filled with light,
And the white-smocked brethren saw it
Gleaming through the hazy night.
And they rushed into the holy
Presence of the prayerful man,
Where he lay with sideward-drooping
Head, and visage pale and wan.
Presence of the prayerful man,
Where he lay with sideward-drooping
Head, and visage pale and wan.
And with gentle hands they raised him,
And he mildly looked around,
And he raised his arm to bless them,
But it dropped upon the ground.
And he mildly looked around,
And he raised his arm to bless them,
But it dropped upon the ground.
And his breathless body rested
On the arms that held him dear,
And his dead face looked upon them
With a light serene and clear.
On the arms that held him dear,
And his dead face looked upon them
With a light serene and clear.
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And they said that holy angels
Surely hovered round his head,
For alive no loveliest ever
Looked so lovely as this dead.
Surely hovered round his head,
For alive no loveliest ever
Looked so lovely as this dead.
| A Song of Heroes | |