Ah dream too full of saddening truth!
Those mansions o'er the main
Are like the hopes I built in youth,--
As sunny and as vain!
[1] "The inhabitants of Arranmore are still persuaded that, in a clear
day, they can see from this coast Hy Brysail or the Enchanted Island, the
paradise of the Pagan Irish, and concerning which they relate a number of
romantic stories",--_Beaufort's "Ancient Topography of Ireland_."
LAY HIS SWORD BY HIS SIDE.
Lay his sword by his side,[1]--it hath served him too well
Not to rest near his pillow below;
To the last moment true, from his hand ere it fell,
Its point was still turned to a flying foe.
Fellow-laborers in life, let them slumber in death,
Side by side, as becomes the reposing brave,--
That sword which he loved still unbroke in its sheath,
And himself unsubdued in his grave.
Yet pause--for, in fancy, a still voice I hear,
As if breathed from his brave heart's remains;--
Faint echo of that which, in Slavery's ear,
Once sounded the war-word, "Burst your chains!"
And it cries from the grave where the hero lies deep,
"Tho' the day of your Chieftain for ever hath set,
"Oh leave not his sword thus inglorious to sleep,--
"It hath victory's life in it yet!"
"Should some alien, unworthy such weapon to wield,
"Dare to touch thee, my own gallant sword,
"Then rest in thy sheath, like a talisman sealed,
Or return to the grave of thy chainless lord.
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