Sprays of Shamrock Part 5

The glint of a thick thorn coppice Greenly girdling all, And the glow of the scarlet poppies Under the cottage wall!

Just a fleeting vision Caught as I hurried by, A little scene elysian Under the morning sky.

For some one a happy haven, It thus to my heart appealed, The poppies at Monasteraven, And the cottage in the field.

THE GLEN OF CASTLEMAINE

Oh, the shadows they lie deep in the glen of Castlemaine, Purple as the gulfs of sleep, gray as are the drifts of rain!

Here are eerie feet that creep when the moon is on the wane.

In the glen of Castlemaine there are eldritch tongues that call; And the little leaves have words that will hold the heart in thrall.

In the glen of Castlemaine there 's a glamour over all.

For the fays have cast their spell o'er the glen of Castlemaine; There is brooding wonder there, but no dream of blight or bane; Here, if you have loved and lost, you may find your love again!

SONG

Just the sun on a slope of heather, The long blue wind and the open sea; All the cares of the world in tether, And n.o.body there but you and me!

That 's my wish in the golden weather; Love, you echo the wish with me?

Come, then, ho, for the slope of heather, The long blue wind and the open sea!

KILMELCHEDOR

Far removed from strife and war Is the shrine of Kilmelchedor; O'er one crumbling archway see Clearly graven--_Domine!_

Master then and master still, How we lean upon His will Who forevermore will be Unto all men--_Domine!_

AT DINGLE

At Dingle, upon sand and s.h.i.+ngle, Softly the ripples curve and creep; Without the white-caps meet and mingle, Without the breakers range and leap.

Here there is calm, here there is quiet, And the sweet sense of long delay; There time and tide by winds that riot Seem from their moorings swept away.

Which will you choose from life, my masters,-- Where waves are lulled to dream at ease, Or, in the face of grim disasters, To sail with daring down the seas?

BACK TO KILLARNEY

Oh, it 's back to Killarney, the glow and the gleam of it, Back to Killarney for me; Back to Killarney, the vision and dream of it, Back to Killarney, my own countrie!

Back to Killarney at sun or at shower-time, Back to Killarney for me; Back to Killarney at frost or at flower-time, Back to Killarney, my own countrie!

Back to Killarney whose soil seems a part of me, Back to Killarney for me; Back to Killarney to soothe the sad heart of me, Back to Killarney, my own countrie!

GLENCAR WATER

I stood by Glencar Water When spring filled all the air, And, oh, by Glencar Water It 's a lovely place to fare!

The song of Glencar Water It has such silvery frets; And there, by Glencar Water, Are banks of violets.

But harsh seems Glencar Water To Norah's soft replies, And the flowers by Glencar Water Are naught to Norah's eyes!

FROM DERRY TO KERRY

'Twixt Derry and Kerry there 's many a mile; They 've right men in Derry, no doubt; But give me the Kerry man's blarneying smile, And give me the Kerry girl's conjuring wile, And lips, like a peach, in a pout!

And give me the sails tacking in to Tralee, And the dip of the bluff Dingle bows, And under Beenaman the surge of the sea, The heathery slopes that are haunts for the bee Where Carraghmore raises its brows!

From Derry to Kerry the leagues they are long For a foot-weary rover to wend, But I take the far track with a s.n.a.t.c.h of a song, And a ready forgetting of aught that is wrong, If Kerry 's the goal at the end!

A KING IN KERRY

I dreamed a dream, mavourneen, I dreamed a dream yestreen, That I was King in Kerry, and you were Galway's Queen.

I roused and ranged about me three score of burnished spears, And rode across the moorland, the north wind round my ears.

It bore me buoyant tidings,--your beauty and your grace,-- And, as I galloped forward, I yearned upon your face.