SHALL THE HARP THEN BE SILENT. 361

Life's soenes go by me, bright or dark
I know not, heed not, hastening ever
To thee, thee, only thee.

I have not a joy but of thy bringing,
And pain itself seems sweet when springing
From thee, thee, only thee.

Like spells that nought on earth can break,
Till lips that know the charm have spoken,
This heart, howe'er the world may wake
Its grief, its scorn, can but be broken
By thee, thee, only thee.

SHALL THE HARP THEN BE SILENT.

SHALL the Harp then be silent, when he who first gave
To our country a name is withdrawn from all eyes?
Shall a minstrel of Erin stand mute by the grave

Where the first-where the last of her Patriots lies?

No-faint though the death-song may fall from his lips, Though his Harp, like his soul, may with shadows be crost,

Yet, yet shall it sound, 'mid a nation's eclipse,

And proclaim to the world what a star hath been lost!

What a union of all the affections and powers

By which life is exalted, embellished, refined,
Was embraced in that spirit-whose centre was ours,
While its mighty circumference circled mankind.

Oh, who that loves Erin, or who that can see,

Through the waste of her annals, that epoch sublime-
Like a pyramid raised in the desert-where he
And his glory stand out to the eyes of all time;

That one lucid interval, snatched from the gloom
And the madness of ages, when filled with his soul,
A nation o'erleaped the dark bounds of her doom,

And for one sacred instant, touched Liberty's goal

Who, that ever hath heard him-hath drank at the source
Of that wonderful eloquence, all Erin's own,
In whose high-thoughted daring, the fire, and the force,
And the yet untamed spring of her spirit are shown;

An eloquence rich, wheresoever its wave

Wandered free and triumphant, with thoughts that shone through,

As clear as the brook's "stone of lustre," that gave,
With the flash of the gem, its solidity too-

Who that ever approached him, when free from the crowd,
In a home full of love, he delighted to tread

'Mong the trees which a nation had given, and which bowed,
As if each brought a new civic crown for his head—

Is there one who had thus, through his orbit of life,

But at distance observed him-through glory, through blame,

In the calm of retreat, in the grandeur of strife,

Whether shining or clouded, still high and the same

Oh no, not a heart that e'er knew him but mourns

Deep, deep o'er the grave where such glory is shrinedO'er a monument Fame will preserve 'mong the urns Of the wisest, the bravest, the best of mankind.

OH, THE SIGHT ENTRANCING.

Он, the sight entrancing,

When morning's beam is glancing

O'er files arrayed

With helm and blade,

And plumes in the gay wind dancing!
When hearts are all high beating,
And the trumpet's voice repeating
That song whose breath

May lead to death,

But never to retreating.

Oh the sight entrancing,

When morning's beam is glancing

O'er files arrayed

With helm and blade,

And plumes in the gay wind dancing.

Yet, 'tis not helm or feather

For ask yon despot, whether

His plumed bands

Could bring such hands

And hearts as ours together.

SWEET INNISFALLEN.

Leave pomps to those who need 'em-
Give man but heart and freedom,

And proud he braves

The gaudiest slaves

That crawl where monarchs lead 'em.
The sword may pierce the beaver,

Stoue walls in time may sever,

'Tis mind alone,

Worth steel and stone,

That keeps men free for ever.
Oh! that sight entrancing,

When the morning's beam is glancing

O'er files arrayed

With helm and blade

And in Freedom's cause advancing!

SWEET INNISFALLEN.

SWEET Innisfallen, fare thee well,

May calm and sunshine long be thine!

How fair thou art let others tell,

To feel how fair shall long be mine.

Sweet Innisfallen, long shall dwell

In memory's dream that sunny smile Which o'er thee on that evening fell, When first I saw thy fairy isle.

'Twas light, indeed, too blest for one

Who had to turn to paths of care—

365