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 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
SAINT PATRICK AND KING LAEGHAIRE.
‘Thou son of Calphurn, in peace go forth!
This hand shall slay them whoe'er shall slay thee!
The earles shall stand to their necks in earth
Till they die of thirst who mock or stay thee!
This hand shall slay them whoe'er shall slay thee!
The earles shall stand to their necks in earth
Till they die of thirst who mock or stay thee!
‘But my father, Nial, who is dead long since,
Permits not me to believe thy word;
For the servants of Jesus, thy heavenly Prince,
Once dead, lie flat as in sleep, interred:
But we are as men that through dark floods wade;
We stand in our black graves undismayed;
Our faces are turned to the race abhorred,
And at each hand by us stand spear or sword,
Ready to strike at the last great day,
Ready to trample them back into clay!
‘This is my realm, and men call it Eire
Wherein I have lived and live in hate
Like Nial before me and Erc his sire,
Of the race Lagenian, ill-named the Great!’
Permits not me to believe thy word;
For the servants of Jesus, thy heavenly Prince,
Once dead, lie flat as in sleep, interred:
But we are as men that through dark floods wade;
We stand in our black graves undismayed;
Our faces are turned to the race abhorred,
And at each hand by us stand spear or sword,
Ready to strike at the last great day,
Ready to trample them back into clay!
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Wherein I have lived and live in hate
Like Nial before me and Erc his sire,
Of the race Lagenian, ill-named the Great!’
Thus spake Laeghaire, and his host rushed on,
A river of blood as yet unshed:—
At noon they fought: and at set of sun
That king lay captive, that host lay dead!
A river of blood as yet unshed:—
At noon they fought: and at set of sun
That king lay captive, that host lay dead!
The Lagenian loosed him, but bade him swear
He would never demand of them Tribute more:
So Laeghaire by the dread ‘God-Elements’ swore,
By the moon divine and the earth and air;
He swore by the wind and the broad sunshine
That circle for ever both land and sea,
By the long-backed rivers, and mighty wine,
By the cloud far-seeing, by herb and tree,
By the boon spring shower, and by autumn's fan.
By woman's breast, and the head of man,
By Night and the noonday Demon he swore
He would claim the Boarian Tribute no more.
He would never demand of them Tribute more:
So Laeghaire by the dread ‘God-Elements’ swore,
By the moon divine and the earth and air;
He swore by the wind and the broad sunshine
That circle for ever both land and sea,
By the long-backed rivers, and mighty wine,
By the cloud far-seeing, by herb and tree,
By the boon spring shower, and by autumn's fan.
By woman's breast, and the head of man,
By Night and the noonday Demon he swore
He would claim the Boarian Tribute no more.
But with time wrath waxed; and he brake his faith:
Then the dread ‘God-Elements’ wrought his death;
For the Wind and Sun-Strength by Cassi's side
Came down and smote on his head that he died.
Death-sick three days on his throne he sate;
Then died, as his father died, great in hate.
Then the dread ‘God-Elements’ wrought his death;
For the Wind and Sun-Strength by Cassi's side
Came down and smote on his head that he died.
Death-sick three days on his throne he sate;
Then died, as his father died, great in hate.
They buried their king upon Tara's hill,
In his grave upright—there stands he still:
Upright there stands he as men that wade
By night through a castle-moat, undismayed;
On his head is the crown; the spear in his hand;
And he looks to the hated Lagenian land.
In his grave upright—there stands he still:
Upright there stands he as men that wade
By night through a castle-moat, undismayed;
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And he looks to the hated Lagenian land.
Such rites in the time of wrath and wrong
Were Eire's: baptized, they were hers no longer:
For Patrick had taught her his sweet new song,
‘Though hate is strong, yet love is stronger.’
Were Eire's: baptized, they were hers no longer:
For Patrick had taught her his sweet new song,
‘Though hate is strong, yet love is stronger.’
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |