Poems MacCarthy, Florence Denis
Poems MacCarthy, Florence Denis Poems MacCarthy, Florence Denis
44 And love, that should be his strength and stay, Becometh his bane full soon, Like flowers that are born Of the beams at morn, But die of their heat ere noon. Far better the heart were the sterile clay Where the shining sands of the desert play, And where never the perishing flow'ret gleams Than the heart that is fed with its wither'd dreams, And whose love is repelled with scorn, Like the bee by the rose's thorn. SWEET MAY. The summer is come!--the summer is come! With its flowers and its branches green, Where the young birds chirp on the blossoming boughs, And the sunlight struggles between: And, like children, over the earth and sky The flowers and the light clouds play; But never before to my heart or eye Came there ever so sweet a May As this-- Sweet May! sweet May! Oh! many a time have I wandered out In the youth of the opening year, When Nature's face was fair to my eye, And her voice was sweet to my ear! When I numbered the daisies, so few and shy, That I met in my lonely way; But never before to my heart or eye, Came there ever so sweet a May As this-- Sweet May! sweet May! If the flowers delayed, or the beams were cold, Or the blossoming trees were bare, I had but to look in the poet's book,
45 For the summer is always there! But the sunny page I now put by, And joy in the darkest day! For never before to my heart or eye, Came there ever so sweet a May As this-- Sweet May! sweet May! For, ah! the belov'ed at length has come, Like the breath of May from afar; And my heart is lit with gentle eyes, As the heavens by the evening star. 'Tis this that brightens the darkest sky, And lengthens the faintest ray, And makes me feel that to the heart or eye There was never so sweet a May As this-- Sweet May! sweet May! FERDIAH;[28] OR, THE FIGHT AT THE FORD. An Episode from the Ancient Irish Epic Romance, "The Tain Bo Cuailgne; or, the Cattle Prey of Cuailgne." ["The 'Tain Bo Cuailgne'" says the late Professor O'Curry, "is to Irish what the Argonautic Expedition, or the Seven against Thebes, is to Grecian history." For an account of this, perhaps the earliest epic romance of Western Europe, see the Professor's "Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Irish History." The Fight of Cuchullin with Ferdiah took place in the modern county of Louth, at the ford of Ardee, which still preserves the name of the departed champion, Ardee being the softened form of 'Ath Ferdiah,' or Ferdiah's Ford. The circumstances under which this famous combat took place are thus succinctly mentioned by O'Curry, in his description of the Tain Bo Cuailgne:--
- Page 1 and 2: 1 Poems MacCarthy, Florence Denis P
- Page 3 and 4: 3 Spanish Literature," new edition,
- Page 5 and 6: 5 Many of the earlier poems here co
- Page 7 and 8: 7 4. The following are the titles a
- Page 9 and 10: 9 Remonstrance Ireland's Vow A Drea
- Page 11 and 12: 11 BALLADS AND LYRICS. WAITING FOR
- Page 13 and 14: 13 Like a dream. The blue smoke upw
- Page 15 and 16: 15 The golden bells that deck the f
- Page 17 and 18: 17 13. Near the town is the "Fairy
- Page 19 and 20: 19 That cometh with years-- Bitter
- Page 21 and 22: 21 Music-shaken, It doth waken, Hal
- Page 23 and 24: 23 Shudder at their midnight madnes
- Page 25 and 26: 25 Heart-enchanting, Cythna, Genevi
- Page 27 and 28: 27 When I have knelt in the temple
- Page 29 and 30: 29 On the wing of the spring, comes
- Page 31 and 32: 31 Long as a Lapland winter, which
- Page 33 and 34: 33 My own dear isle! LOVE'S LANGUAG
- Page 35 and 36: 35 How poor or great may be my fate
- Page 37 and 38: 37 Truth, forget the constant beami
- Page 39 and 40: 39 Oh! none was to rival the prince
- Page 41 and 42: 41 At my window, late and early, In
- Page 43: 43 In fragrant sighs its heart reve
- Page 47 and 48: 47 The dread expanding force of the
- Page 49 and 50: 49 the agile spring so swift and li
- Page 51 and 52: 51 Though Domnal[42] it should be,
- Page 53 and 54: 53 Who hitherto have come to fight
- Page 55 and 56: 55 CUCHULLIN. If Conor's royal stre
- Page 57 and 58: 57 Unto the chariot, and he rode fu
- Page 59 and 60: 59 Last year it was in a vision of
- Page 61 and 62: 61 "Glad am I, O Cuchullin, thou ha
- Page 63 and 64: 63 Thence impetuous wilt thou grow,
- Page 65 and 66: 65 No, the great prize shall not by
- Page 67 and 68: 67 Like bees upon the wing on a fin
- Page 69 and 70: 69 And then they braced their two b
- Page 71 and 72: 71 And thus betwixt the twain this
- Page 73 and 74: 73 To fight the fight where my frie
- Page 75 and 76: 75 All these on me in turn shall so
- Page 77 and 78: 77 With such an easy effort that it
- Page 79 and 80: 79 As a huge mill-stone, cracking i
- Page 81 and 82: 81 He to have died and thou to have
- Page 83 and 84: 83 Ah! hapless deed, that still my
- Page 85 and 86: 85 First on the shore, as swift our
- Page 87 and 88: 87 The wave that swallows up the sh
- Page 89 and 90: 89 38. "The plains of Aie" (son of
- Page 91 and 92: 91 This, which it is to be presumed
- Page 93 and 94: 93 Like hooded monks before a dazzl
45<br />
For the summer is always there!<br />
But the sunny page I now put by,<br />
And joy in the darkest day!<br />
For never before to my heart or eye,<br />
Came there ever so sweet a May<br />
As this--<br />
Sweet May! sweet May!<br />
For, ah! the belov'ed at length has come,<br />
Like the breath of May from afar;<br />
And my heart is lit with gentle eyes,<br />
As the heavens by the evening star.<br />
'Tis this that brightens the darkest sky,<br />
And lengthens the faintest ray,<br />
And makes me feel that to the heart or eye<br />
There was never so sweet a May<br />
As this--<br />
Sweet May! sweet May!<br />
FERDIAH;[28]<br />
OR, THE FIGHT AT THE FORD.<br />
An Episode from the Ancient Irish Epic Romance, "The Tain Bo Cuailgne;<br />
or, the Cattle Prey of Cuailgne."<br />
["The 'Tain Bo Cuailgne'" says the late Professor O'Curry, "is to Irish<br />
what the Argonautic Expedition, or the Seven against Thebes, is to<br />
Grecian history." For an account of this, perhaps the earliest epic<br />
romance of Western Europe, see the Professor's "Lectures on the<br />
Manuscript Materials of Irish History."<br />
The Fight of Cuchullin with Ferdiah took place in the modern county of<br />
Louth, at the ford of Ardee, which still preserves the name of the<br />
departed champion, Ardee being the softened form of 'Ath Ferdiah,' or<br />
Ferdiah's Ford.<br />
The circumstances under which this famous combat took place are thus<br />
succinctly mentioned by O'Curry, in his description of the Tain Bo<br />
Cuailgne:--