ANGLO-IRISH LITERARY TEXTS |
WILLIAM DRENNAN
THE WAKE OF WILLIAM ORR
Here our murdered brother lies -
Wake him not with women's cries;
Mourn the way that manhood ought;
Sit in silent trance of thought.
Write his merits on your mind -
Morals pure and manners kind;
In his head, as on a hill,
Virtue placed her citadel.
Why cut off in palmy youth?
Truth he spoke, and acted truth -
Countrymen, 'Unite!' he cried,
And died - for what his Saviour died.
God of Peace, and God of Love,
Let it not thy vengeance move!
Let it not thy lightnings draw -
A Nation guillotin'd by law!
Hapless nation! rent and torn,
Thou wert early taught to mourn,
Warfare of six hundred years -
Epochs marked with blood and tears!
Hunted thro' thy native grounds,
Or flung reward to human hounds;
Each one pull'd and tore his share,
Heedless of thy deep despair.
Hapless Nation - hapless Land,
Heap of uncementing sand!
Crumbled by a foreign weight,
And, by worse, domestic hate.
God of Mercy! God of Peace!
Make the mad confusion cease;
O'er the mental chaos move,
Through it speak the light of love.
Monstrous and unhappy sight,
Brothers' blood will not unite;
Holy oil and holy water,
Mix, and fill the world with slaughter.
Who is she with aspect wild?
The widow'd mother with her child -
Child new stirring in the womb!
Husband waiting for the tomb!
Angel of this sacred place,
Calm her soul and whisper peace,
Cord, or axe, or guillotin'
Make the sentence - not the sin.
Here we watch our brother's sleep;
Watch with us, but do not weep;
Watch with us thro' dead of night,
But expect the morning light.
Conquer fortune - persevere! -
Lo! it breaks, the morning clear!
The cheerful cock awakes the skies,
The day is come - arise! - arise!
RJW