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 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
XII.
Him God destroyed! The Accursed One lay
Like beast, unburied where he fell:
But Brian and his sons this day
In Armagh Church sleep well.
And Brian's grandson strong and fair,
Clutching a Sea-King by the hair,
Went with him far through Tolga's wave;
Went with him to the same sea-grave.
So Eire gave thanks to God, though sad,
And took the blessing and the bale,
And sang, in funeral garments clad,
The vengeance of the Gael.
Silent all night the Northmen haled
Their dead adown the bleeding wharf:
Far north at dawn the Pirates sailed;
But on thy shore, Clontarf,
Old Eire once more, with wan cheeks wet,
Gave thanks that He who shakes the skies
Had burst His people's bond, and yet
Decreed that Sacrifice:
For God is One that gives and takes;
That lifts the low, and fells the proud;
That loves His land of Eire, and makes
His rainbow in His cloud.
Like beast, unburied where he fell:
But Brian and his sons this day
In Armagh Church sleep well.
And Brian's grandson strong and fair,
Clutching a Sea-King by the hair,
Went with him far through Tolga's wave;
Went with him to the same sea-grave.
So Eire gave thanks to God, though sad,
And took the blessing and the bale,
And sang, in funeral garments clad,
The vengeance of the Gael.
Silent all night the Northmen haled
Their dead adown the bleeding wharf:
Far north at dawn the Pirates sailed;
But on thy shore, Clontarf,
337
Gave thanks that He who shakes the skies
Had burst His people's bond, and yet
Decreed that Sacrifice:
For God is One that gives and takes;
That lifts the low, and fells the proud;
That loves His land of Eire, and makes
His rainbow in His cloud.
Thus sang to Eire her Bard of old;
Thus sang to trampled kerne and serf,
While, sunset-like, her age of gold
Came back to green Clontarf.
Thus sang to trampled kerne and serf,
While, sunset-like, her age of gold
Came back to green Clontarf.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |