Page:Irish minstrelsy, vol 2 - Hardiman.djvu/117

 Rh Victims of every changing fate,
 * These shadows of the Gael of yore,

Whose bonds with worse corrosion eat,
 * Through breasts that panted free before.

Their power is feebleness—their worth,
 * Their manly worth, a rankling stain;

Once heroes! now, disastrous dearth.
 * Their hearts have shriveled to the chain.

Dark shadows round the Gael arise,
 * Veiling the light of other days;

Like clouds that gathering in the skies.
 * Obscure the sun's meridian blaze.

The word went forth$2$—from Boyne to Lein
 * Echoed the impious sounds away;

But Fians yet in Fail disdain
 * To bend or brook an alien sway.

The scions of a race of kings
 * No more the glittering barb may grace;

Bid the swift hawk unfurl his wings,
 * Or wake the mountain with the chase.