 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
397
THE BALLAD OF KING CORMAC'S CHOICE.
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According to the Irish chronicles, Cormac, King of all Ireland, renounced the worship of idols about two centuries before the arrival of St. Patrick, having received in a vision the promise of the true Faith.
Who shall forbid a king to lie
Where lie he will, when life is o'er?
King Cormac laid him down to die;
But first he raised his hand and swore;
Where lie he will, when life is o'er?
King Cormac laid him down to die;
But first he raised his hand and swore;
‘At Brugh ye shall not lay my bones:
Those pagan Kings I scorn to join
Beside the trembling Druid stones,
And on the northern bank of Boyne.
Those pagan Kings I scorn to join
Beside the trembling Druid stones,
And on the northern bank of Boyne.
‘A grassy grave of poor degree
Upon its southern marge be mine
At Rossnaree, where of things to be
I saw in vision the pledge and sign.
Upon its southern marge be mine
At Rossnaree, where of things to be
I saw in vision the pledge and sign.
‘Thou happier Faith, that from the East
Slow travellest, set my People free!
I sleep, thy prophet and thy priest,
By southern Boyne, at Rossnaree.’
Slow travellest, set my People free!
I sleep, thy prophet and thy priest,
By southern Boyne, at Rossnaree.’
He died: anon from hill and wood
Down flocked the black-robed Druid race
And round the darkened palace stood
And cursed the dead King to his face,
Down flocked the black-robed Druid race
And round the darkened palace stood
And cursed the dead King to his face,
398
Uptowering round his bed, with lips
Denouncing doom, and cheeks death-pale,
As when at noontide strange eclipse
Invests grey cliff and shadowed vale;
Denouncing doom, and cheeks death-pale,
As when at noontide strange eclipse
Invests grey cliff and shadowed vale;
And proved with cymbal'd anthems dread
The Gods he spurned had bade him die:—
Then spake the pagan chiefs and said
‘Where lie our Kings, this King must lie.’
The Gods he spurned had bade him die:—
Then spake the pagan chiefs and said
‘Where lie our Kings, this King must lie.’
In royal robes the corse they dressed;
They spread the bier with boughs of yew;
And chose twelve men, their first and best,
To bear him through the Boyne to Brugh.
They spread the bier with boughs of yew;
And chose twelve men, their first and best,
To bear him through the Boyne to Brugh.
But on his bier the great dead King
Forgat not so his kingly oath;
And from sea-marge to mountain spring
Boyne heard their coming, and was wroth:
Forgat not so his kingly oath;
And from sea-marge to mountain spring
Boyne heard their coming, and was wroth:
He frowned far off 'mid gorse and fern
As those ill-omened steps made way;
He muttered 'neath the flying hern;
He foamed by cairn and cromlech grey;
As those ill-omened steps made way;
He muttered 'neath the flying hern;
He foamed by cairn and cromlech grey;
And rose, and drowned with one black wave
Those Twelve on-wading; and with glee
Bore down King Cormac to his grave
By southern Boyne, at Rossnaree!
Those Twelve on-wading; and with glee
Bore down King Cormac to his grave
By southern Boyne, at Rossnaree!
Close by that grave, three centuries past,
Columba reared his saintly cell;
And Boyne's rough voice was changed at last
To music by the Christian bell.
Columba reared his saintly cell;
And Boyne's rough voice was changed at last
To music by the Christian bell.
399
So Christ's true Faith made Erin free,
And blessed her women and her men;
And that which was again shall be,
And that which died shall rise again.
And blessed her women and her men;
And that which was again shall be,
And that which died shall rise again.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |