 | Lays of the Red Branch |  |
23
MESGEDRA:
A LAY OF THE WESTERN GAEL.
When glades were green where Dublin stands to-day,
And limpid Liffey, fresh from wood and wold,
Bridgeless and fordless, in the lonely Bay
Sank to her rest on sands of stainless gold;
And limpid Liffey, fresh from wood and wold,
Bridgeless and fordless, in the lonely Bay
Sank to her rest on sands of stainless gold;
Came Bard Atharna with his spoils of song
From rich, reluctant lords of Leinster wrung;
Flocks and fat herds, a far-extending throng,
Bondsmen and handmaids beautiful and young:
From rich, reluctant lords of Leinster wrung;
Flocks and fat herds, a far-extending throng,
Bondsmen and handmaids beautiful and young:
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And,—for the dusky deeps might ill be pass'd,
And he impatient to secure his store,—
A hurdle-causeway o'er the river cast,
And bore his booty to the further shore:
And he impatient to secure his store,—
A hurdle-causeway o'er the river cast,
And bore his booty to the further shore:
Which ill-enduring, Leinster's king, the brave
Mesgedra, following in an angry quest,
On Tolka bank of damsel and of slave
Despoiled the spoiler now no more a guest;
Mesgedra, following in an angry quest,
On Tolka bank of damsel and of slave
Despoiled the spoiler now no more a guest;
Who, being bard and ministering priest
Of those vain demons then esteemed divine,
Invoked a curse on Leinster, man and beast,
With rites of sacrifice and rhymes malign;
Of those vain demons then esteemed divine,
Invoked a curse on Leinster, man and beast,
With rites of sacrifice and rhymes malign;
And sang so loud his clamorous call to war
That all the chiefs of bard-protecting fame
Throughout Ulidia, arming near and far,
Came, and, to aid him, Conall Carnach came;
That all the chiefs of bard-protecting fame
Throughout Ulidia, arming near and far,
Came, and, to aid him, Conall Carnach came;
And, where the city now sends up her vows
From holy Patrick's renovated fane,
(Small surmise then that one of Conall's house
Should there, thereafter, such a work ordain),
From holy Patrick's renovated fane,
(Small surmise then that one of Conall's house
Should there, thereafter, such a work ordain),
Joined Leinster battle: till the southern lords,
Their bravest slain or into bondage led,
At sunset broke before the Red Branch swords,
And, last, Mesgedra climbed his car and fled.
Their bravest slain or into bondage led,
At sunset broke before the Red Branch swords,
And, last, Mesgedra climbed his car and fled.
Alone, in darkness, of one hand forlorn,
Naas-ward all night he held his journey back
Through wood and fen, till ill-befriending morn
Showed him fell Conall following on his track.
Naas-ward all night he held his journey back
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Showed him fell Conall following on his track.
So chanced it, as the doleful daylight broke,
That, wandering devious with disordered rein,
His steeds had reached beside the Sacred Oak
On Liffey's bank, above the fords of Clane.
That, wandering devious with disordered rein,
His steeds had reached beside the Sacred Oak
On Liffey's bank, above the fords of Clane.
Glad to the Tree-God made he grateful vows
Who deigned that green asylum to bestow;
Kissed the brown earth beneath the moss-green boughs,
And waited, calm, the coming of his foe.
Who deigned that green asylum to bestow;
Kissed the brown earth beneath the moss-green boughs,
And waited, calm, the coming of his foe.
He, as a hawk, that, in a housewife's coop
Spying his quarry, stoops upon the wing,
Came on apace, and, when in middle swoop,
Declining sidelong from the sacred ring,
Spying his quarry, stoops upon the wing,
Came on apace, and, when in middle swoop,
Declining sidelong from the sacred ring,
Wheeled, swerving past the consecrated bounds:—
Then thus, between him and the asylum'd man,
While nearer brush'd he still in narrowing rounds,
The grave, unfriendly parle of death began.
Then thus, between him and the asylum'd man,
While nearer brush'd he still in narrowing rounds,
The grave, unfriendly parle of death began.
“Come forth, Mesgedra, from the sheltering tree,
And render fight: 'tis northern Conall calls.”
“Not from an equal combat do I flee,
O Conall, to these green, protecting halls;
And render fight: 'tis northern Conall calls.”
“Not from an equal combat do I flee,
O Conall, to these green, protecting halls;
“But, mutilated, weak from many wounds,
Here take I sanctuary, where none will dare
With impious wheel o'erdrive my measured bounds,
Or cast a weapon through the spell-wall'd air.”
Here take I sanctuary, where none will dare
With impious wheel o'erdrive my measured bounds,
Or cast a weapon through the spell-wall'd air.”
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“No impious man am I; I fear the Gods;
My wheels thy sacred precinct do but graze;
Nor, in the strife I challenge, ask I odds,
But lot alike to each of death or praise.”
My wheels thy sacred precinct do but graze;
Nor, in the strife I challenge, ask I odds,
But lot alike to each of death or praise.”
“See, then, one arm hangs idly by my side:
Let, now, one answering arm put also by
From share of battle, to thy belt be tied;
So shall thy challenge soon have meet reply.”
Let, now, one answering arm put also by
From share of battle, to thy belt be tied;
So shall thy challenge soon have meet reply.”
Then Conall lossed his war-belt's leathern band;
Buckle and belt above his arm he closed;
And, single-handed, to the single hand
Of maimed Mesgedra, stood in fight opposed.
Buckle and belt above his arm he closed;
And, single-handed, to the single hand
Of maimed Mesgedra, stood in fight opposed.
They fought, with clashing intermixture keen
Of rapid sword-strokes, till Mesgedra's blade,
Belt and brass corslet glancing sheer between,
Wide open all the trammelling closure laid.
Of rapid sword-strokes, till Mesgedra's blade,
Belt and brass corslet glancing sheer between,
Wide open all the trammelling closure laid.
“Respect my plight: two-handed chief, forbear!”
“Behold, I spare; I yield to thy appeal;
And bind this hand again; but, well beware
Again it owe not freedom to thy steel!”
“Behold, I spare; I yield to thy appeal;
And bind this hand again; but, well beware
Again it owe not freedom to thy steel!”
Again they fought, with close-commingling hail
Of swifter sword-strokes, till the fated brand
Of doom'd Mesgedra, glancing from the mail,
Again cut loose the dread, man-slaughtering hand.
Of swifter sword-strokes, till the fated brand
Of doom'd Mesgedra, glancing from the mail,
Again cut loose the dread, man-slaughtering hand.
No prayer might now hot Conall's fire assuage;
No prayer was uttered; from his scattered toils
Bounding in headlong homicidal rage,
He flew, he threw, he slew, and took the spoils:
No prayer was uttered; from his scattered toils
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He flew, he threw, he slew, and took the spoils:
Then up, all glorying, all imbrued in gore,
Sprang to the chariot-seat, and north amain
Chariots and steeds and ghastly trophy bore
Through murmuring Liffey, o'er the fords of Clane.
Sprang to the chariot-seat, and north amain
Chariots and steeds and ghastly trophy bore
Through murmuring Liffey, o'er the fords of Clane.
There, softly glancing down the hawthorn glades,
Like phantom of the dawn and dewy air,
There met him, with a troop of dames and maids,
A lovely woman delicate and fair.
Like phantom of the dawn and dewy air,
There met him, with a troop of dames and maids,
A lovely woman delicate and fair.
They, at their vision of the man of blood,
Rightward and left fled fluttering in alarm;
She in his pathway innocently stood
As one who thinks not, and who fears not, harm.
Rightward and left fled fluttering in alarm;
She in his pathway innocently stood
As one who thinks not, and who fears not, harm.
“Who thou, and whence, and who the woman-train?”
“Buäna, King Mesgedra's wife, am I,
From vows returning sped at Tclacta's fane:
These dames and maids my serving company.
“Buäna, King Mesgedra's wife, am I,
From vows returning sped at Tclacta's fane:
These dames and maids my serving company.
“And, one moon absent, long the time appears
Till back in Naas's halls I lay at rest
My dreams ill-omening and my woman's fears
That daily haunt me, on my husband's breast.”
Till back in Naas's halls I lay at rest
My dreams ill-omening and my woman's fears
That daily haunt me, on my husband's breast.”
“Mount here. Thy husband speaks his will through me.”
“Through thee! Thy token of my husband's will?”
“The royal car, the royal coursers see:
Perchance there rests a surer token still.”
“Through thee! Thy token of my husband's will?”
“The royal car, the royal coursers see:
Perchance there rests a surer token still.”
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“My king Mesgedra is a bounteous lord,
And many a war-car doth his chariot-pen,
And many a swift steed do his stalls afford
For oft bestowal upon divers men.”
And many a war-car doth his chariot-pen,
And many a swift steed do his stalls afford
For oft bestowal upon divers men.”
“See then,” he said, “my certain warrant here.”
Ah, what a deed! and showed the severed head.
She paled, she sickened with a mortal fear,
Reached her white arms and sank before him, dead.
Ah, what a deed! and showed the severed head.
She paled, she sickened with a mortal fear,
Reached her white arms and sank before him, dead.
No passing swoon was hers: he saw her die;
Saw death's pale signet set on cheek and brow:—
Up through his raging breast there rose a sigh;
And, “Sure,” he said, “a loving wife wast thou!
Saw death's pale signet set on cheek and brow:—
Up through his raging breast there rose a sigh;
And, “Sure,” he said, “a loving wife wast thou!
“And I—my deeds to-day shall live in song:
Bards in the ears of feasting kings shall tell
How keen Mesgedra cut the trammelling thong,
And unbound Conall used his freedom well.
Bards in the ears of feasting kings shall tell
How keen Mesgedra cut the trammelling thong,
And unbound Conall used his freedom well.
“For, what I've done, by rule of warrior-law
Well was I justified and bound to do;
And poets hence a precedent shall draw
For future champion-compacts just and true.
Well was I justified and bound to do;
And poets hence a precedent shall draw
For future champion-compacts just and true.
“Done, not because I love the sight of blood,
Or, uninstructed, rather would destroy
Than cherish; or prefer the whirling mood
Of battle's turbulent and dreadful joy
Or, uninstructed, rather would destroy
Than cherish; or prefer the whirling mood
Of battle's turbulent and dreadful joy
“To peaceful life's mild temper; but because
Things hideous, which the natural sense would shun,
Are, by the sanction of religious laws,
Made clean, and pure, and righteous to be done.
Things hideous, which the natural sense would shun,
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Made clean, and pure, and righteous to be done.
“Ye, in whose name these awful laws are given,
Forgive the thought this woman's looks have raised;—
Are broken hearts acceptable to Heaven?
Is God by groans of anguish rightly praised?
Forgive the thought this woman's looks have raised;—
Are broken hearts acceptable to Heaven?
Is God by groans of anguish rightly praised?
“I, at your law's commandment, slew her lord,
And, at your law's commandment, would have borne
Herself, a captive, to a land abhorr'd,
To spend her widowhood in pain and scorn.
And, at your law's commandment, would have borne
Herself, a captive, to a land abhorr'd,
To spend her widowhood in pain and scorn.
“But now, since friendlier death has shut her eyes
From sight of bondage in an alien home,
No law forbids to yield her obsequies,
Or o'er her raise the green sepulchral dome.
From sight of bondage in an alien home,
No law forbids to yield her obsequies,
Or o'er her raise the green sepulchral dome.
“Or—for her love was stronger than her life—
To place beside her, in her narrow bed,—
It's lawful tribute rendered to my knife—
The much-loved, life-lamented, kingly head.
To place beside her, in her narrow bed,—
It's lawful tribute rendered to my knife—
The much-loved, life-lamented, kingly head.
“No law forbids—all sanguinary dues
Paid justly—that the heart-wrung human vow
Your sterner rites, dread Deities, refuse,
Some gentler Demon's ritual may allow:
Paid justly—that the heart-wrung human vow
Your sterner rites, dread Deities, refuse,
Some gentler Demon's ritual may allow:
“That yet, ere Time of Mankind make an end,
Some mightier Druid of our race may rise;
Some milder Messenger from Heaven descend;
And Earth, with nearer knowledge of the Skies,
Some mightier Druid of our race may rise;
Some milder Messenger from Heaven descend;
And Earth, with nearer knowledge of the Skies,
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“See, past your sacrificers' grisly bands,
Past all the shapes that servile souls appal,
With fearless vision, from a thousand lands,
One great, good God behind and over all.
Past all the shapes that servile souls appal,
With fearless vision, from a thousand lands,
One great, good God behind and over all.
“Raise, then, her mound”: the gathering hosts he spake
Tnat, thronging to o'ertake their venturous king,
Poured from the ford through fen and crackling brake,
And hailed their hero in acclaiming ring:—
Tnat, thronging to o'ertake their venturous king,
Poured from the ford through fen and crackling brake,
And hailed their hero in acclaiming ring:—
“Raise, too, her stone, conspicuous far and near;
And let a legend on the long stone tell,
‘Behold, there lies a tender woman here,
Who, surely, loved a valiant husband well.’
And let a legend on the long stone tell,
‘Behold, there lies a tender woman here,
Who, surely, loved a valiant husband well.’
“And let the earth-heap'd, grass-renewing tomb
A time-long token eloquent remain
Of Pity and of Love for all who come
By murmuring Liffey and the banks of Clane.”
A time-long token eloquent remain
Of Pity and of Love for all who come
By murmuring Liffey and the banks of Clane.”
Delicious Liffey! from thy bosoming hills
What man who sees thee issuing strong and pure,
But with some wistful, fresh emotion fills,
Akin to Nature's own clear temperature?
What man who sees thee issuing strong and pure,
But with some wistful, fresh emotion fills,
Akin to Nature's own clear temperature?
And, haply, thinks:—on this green bank 'twere sweet
To make one's mansion, sometime of the year;
For Health and Pleasure on these uplands meet,
And all the isle's amenities are here.
To make one's mansion, sometime of the year;
For Health and Pleasure on these uplands meet,
And all the isle's amenities are here.
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Hither the merry music of the chase
Floats up the festive borders of Kildare;
And slim-bright steeds extending in the race
Are yonder seen, and camping legions there.
Floats up the festive borders of Kildare;
And slim-bright steeds extending in the race
Are yonder seen, and camping legions there.
These coverts hold the wary-gallant fox;
There the park'd stag waits his enlarging day;
And there, triumphant o'er opposing rocks,
The shooting salmon quivers through thy spray.
There the park'd stag waits his enlarging day;
And there, triumphant o'er opposing rocks,
The shooting salmon quivers through thy spray.
The heath, the fern, the honey-fragrant furze
Carpet thy cradling steeps: thy middle flow
Laves lawn and oak-wood: o'er thy downward course
Laburnums nod and terraced roses blow.
Carpet thy cradling steeps: thy middle flow
Laves lawn and oak-wood: o'er thy downward course
Laburnums nod and terraced roses blow.
To ride the race, to hunt, to fowl, to fish,
To do and dare whate'er brave youth would do,
A fair fine country as the heart could wish,
And fair the brown-clear river running through.
To do and dare whate'er brave youth would do,
A fair fine country as the heart could wish,
And fair the brown-clear river running through.
Such seemest thou to Dublin's youth to-day,
Oh clear-dark Liffey, mid the pleasant land;
With life's delights abounding, brave and gay,
The song, the dance, the softly yielded hand,
Oh clear-dark Liffey, mid the pleasant land;
With life's delights abounding, brave and gay,
The song, the dance, the softly yielded hand,
The exulting leap, the backward-flying fence,
The whirling reel, the steady-levelled gun;—
With all attractions for the youthful sense,
All charms to please the manly mind, but one,
The whirling reel, the steady-levelled gun;—
With all attractions for the youthful sense,
All charms to please the manly mind, but one,
For, thou, for them, alas! nor History hast
Nor even Tradition; and the Man aspires
To link his present with his Country's past,
And live anew in knowledge of his sires;
Nor even Tradition; and the Man aspires
To link his present with his Country's past,
And live anew in knowledge of his sires;
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No rootless colonist of alien earth,
Proud but of patient lungs and pliant limb,
A stranger in the land that gave him birth,
The land a stranger to itself and him.
Proud but of patient lungs and pliant limb,
A stranger in the land that gave him birth,
The land a stranger to itself and him.
Yet, though in History's page thou may'st not claim
High places set apart for deeds sublime
That hinge the turnings of the gates of Fame
And give to view the avenues of Time;
High places set apart for deeds sublime
That hinge the turnings of the gates of Fame
And give to view the avenues of Time;
Not all inglorious in thy elder day
Art thou, Moy-Liffey; and the loving mind
Might round thy borders many a gracious lay
And many a tale not unheroic find.
Art thou, Moy-Liffey; and the loving mind
Might round thy borders many a gracious lay
And many a tale not unheroic find.
Sir Almeric's deeds might fire a youthful heart
To brave contention mid illustrious peers;
Tears into eyes as beautiful might start
At tender record of Isolda's tears;
To brave contention mid illustrious peers;
Tears into eyes as beautiful might start
At tender record of Isolda's tears;
Virtue herself uplift a loftier head,
Linked through the years with Ormond's constancy,
And airs from Runnymede around us spread,—
Yea, all the fragrance of the Charter Tree
Linked through the years with Ormond's constancy,
And airs from Runnymede around us spread,—
Yea, all the fragrance of the Charter Tree
Wafted down time, refresh the conscious soul
With Freedom's balms, when, firm in patriot zeal,
Dublin's De Londres, to Pandolfo's scroll
Alone of all refused to set his seal;
With Freedom's balms, when, firm in patriot zeal,
Dublin's De Londres, to Pandolfo's scroll
Alone of all refused to set his seal;
Or when her other Henry's happier eyes
Up-glancing from his field of victory won,
eheld, one moment, 'neath adoring skies,
The lifted isle lie nearer to the sun.—
Up-glancing from his field of victory won,
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The lifted isle lie nearer to the sun.—
For others, these. I, from the twilight waste
Where pale Tradition sits by Memory's grave,
Gather this wreath, and, ere the nightfall, haste
To fling my votive garland on thy wave.
Where pale Tradition sits by Memory's grave,
Gather this wreath, and, ere the nightfall, haste
To fling my votive garland on thy wave.
Wave, waft it softly: and when lovers stray
At summer eve by stream and dimpling pool,
Gather thy murmurs into voice and say,
With liquid utterance passionate and full,
At summer eve by stream and dimpling pool,
Gather thy murmurs into voice and say,
With liquid utterance passionate and full,
Scorn not, sweet maiden, scorn not, vigorous youth,
The lay, though breathing of an Irish home,
That tells of woman-love and warrior-ruth
And old expectancy of Christ to come.
The lay, though breathing of an Irish home,
That tells of woman-love and warrior-ruth
And old expectancy of Christ to come.
| Lays of the Red Branch | |