Poems by Denis Florence MacCarthy
page 53 of 379 (13%)
page 53 of 379 (13%)
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With Heber, and Ir, and the Spanish patricians,
To free Inisfail from the spells of magicians.[24] Oh! reason had these for their quaking and pallor, For what magic can equal the strong sword of valour? Better than spells are the axe and the arrow, When wielded or flung by the hand of MacCaura! From that hour a MacCaura had reigned in his pride O'er Desmond's green valleys and rivers so wide, From thy waters, Lismore, to the torrents and rills That are leaping for ever down Brandon's brown hills; The billows of Bantry, the meadows of Bear, The wilds of Evaugh, and the groves of Glancare, From the Shannon's soft shores to the banks of the Barrow, All owned the proud sway of the princely MacCaura! In the house of Miodchuart,[25] by princes surrounded, How noble his step when the trumpet was sounded, And his clansmen bore proudly his broad shield before him, And hung it on high in that bright palace o'er him; On the left of the monarch the chieftain was seated, And happy was he whom his proud glances greeted: 'Mid monarchs and chiefs at the great Fes of Tara, Oh! none was to rival the princely MacCaura! To the halls of the Red Branch,[26] when the conquest was o'er, The champions their rich spoils of victory bore, And the sword of the Briton, the shield of the Dane, Flashed bright as the sun on the walls of Eamhain; There Dathy and Niall bore trophies of war, |
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