Page:The Spirit of the Nation.djvu/116

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SPIRIT OF THE NATION.

VI.

And later times saw deeds as brave;
And glory guards Clanricarde's grave—
Sing oh! they died their land to save,
At Aughrim's slopes and Shannon's wave.


VII.

And if, when all a vigil keep,
The West's asleep, the West's asleep—
Sing oh! poor Erin well may weep,
That men so sprung are still asleep.


VIII.

But—hark!—some voice like thunder spake:
"The West's awake, the West's awake"—
Sing oh! hurra! let England quake,
"We'll watch till death for Erin's sake."


THE WEXFORD MASSACRE.

1649.

I.

They knelt around the Cross divine,
The matron and the maid—
They bow'd before redemption's sign,
And fervently they prayed—
Three hundred fair and helpless ones,
Whose crime was this alone—
Their valiant husband, sires, and sons,
Had battled for their own.


II.

Had battled bravely, but in vain—
The Saxon won the fight,
And Irish corses strewed the plain

Where Valour slept with Right.