Page:Poems of the Great War - Cunliffe.djvu/123

 ��IRELAND

The Dreamers : —

Outpost of Europe, watcher of the seas,

Bulwark to part the dark Atlantic tide, Still in the sunset lost Hesperides

Raise peak on peak, and purple galleys glide, Kings for their oarsmen, queens for garnishing,

Gleam of their gold that sets the west afire, Till the night falls, that knows not any thing.

And the new day brings back the old desire.

The Mediterraneans : —

We are your seamen, seamen from the south :

We sought and found you ere the Tyrian sailed, Steered with glad shouting through the harbor- mouth.

Parted the woods, and left you half unveiled ; Ours, ours, that ventured through the forest-bars.

Saw the brown spate and sweetness of the glen. And the great breasts domed up against the stars.

Held you and loved you ; we were first of men.

The Northmen : — These were thy clansmen, dark with sun and toil, These knew the Atlas, these the desert knew.

�� �