 | The Poems of Thomas Davis |  |
66
THE INVOCATION.
I
Bright fairies by Glengariff's bay,Soft woods that o'er Killarney sway,
Bold echoes born in Céim-an-eich,
Your kinsman's greeting hear!
He asks you, by old friendship's name,
By all the rights that minstrels claim,
For Erin's joy and Desmond's fame,
Be kind to Fanny dear!
II
Her eyes are darker than Dunloe,Her soul is whiter than the snow,
Her tresses like arbutus flow,
Her step like frighted deer:
Then, still thy waves, capricious lake!
And ceaseless, soft winds, round her wake,
Yet never bring a cloud to break
The smile of Fanny dear!
67
III
Oh! let her see the trance-bound men,And kiss the red deer in his den,
And spy from out a hazel glen
O'Donoghue appear;—
Or, should she roam by wild Dunbwy,
Oh! send the maiden to her knee,
I sung whilome, —but then, ah! me,
I knew not Fanny dear!
IV
Old Mangerton! thine eagles plume—Dear Innisfallen! brighter bloom—
And Mucruss! whisper thro' the gloom
Quaint legends to her ear;
Till strong as ash-tree in its pride,
And gay as sunbeam on the tide,
We welcome back to Liffey's side,
Our brightest, Fanny dear.
| The Poems of Thomas Davis | |