Analysis of The Geraldines
Thomas Osborne Davis 1814 (Mallow, County Cork) – 1845 (Dublin)
The Geraldines! The Geraldines! 'tis full a thousand years
Since, 'mid the Tuscan vineyards, bright flashed their
battle-spears;
When Capet seized the crown of France, their iron shields were known,
And their sabre dint struck terror on the banks of the Garonne;
Across the downs of Hastings they spurred hard by William's side,
And the grey sands of Palestine with Moslem blood they dyed;
But never then, nor thence till now, has falsehood or disgrace
Been seen to soil Fitzgerald's plume, or mantle in his face.
The Geraldines! The Geraldines! 'tis true, in Strongbow's van,
By lawless force, as conquerors, their Irish reign began;
And, O! through many a dark campaign they proved their prowess stern,
In Leinster's plains, and Munster's vales, on king, and chief, and
kerne;
But noble was the cheer within the halls so rudely won,
And generous was the steel-gloved hand that had such slaughter
done!
How gay their laugh! how proud their mien! you'd ask no herald's
sign
Among a thousand you had known the princely Geraldine.
These Geraldines! These Geraldines! not long our air they breathed,
Not long they fed on venison, in Irish water seethed,
Not often had their children been by Irish mothers nursed;
When from their full and genial hearts an Irish feeling burst !
The English monarchs strove in vain, by law, and force, and bribe,
To win from Irish thoughts and ways this "more than Irish" tribe;
For still they clung to fosterage, to breitheamh, cloak, and bard;
What king dare say to Geraldine, "Your Irish wife discard" ?
Ye Geraldines! Ye Geraldines! How royally ye reigned
O'er Desmond broad and rich Kildare, and English arts disdained;
Your sword made knights, your banner waved, free was your bugle call
By Glyn's green slopes, and Dingle's tide, from Barrow's banks to
Eochaill,
What gorgeous shrines, what Brehon lore, what minstrel feasts there were
In and around Magh Nuadhaid's keep and palace-filled Adare!
But not for rite or feast ye stayed, when friend or kin were pressed;
And foeman fled when "Crom-abu" bespoke your lance in rest.
Ye Geraldines! ye Geraldines! since Silken Thomas flung
King Henry's sword on council board, the English thanes among,
Ye never ceased to battle brave against the English sway,
Though axe and brand and treachery your proudest cut away.
Of Desmon's blood through woman's veins passed on the exhausted tide;
His title lives, a Sasanch churl usurps the lion's hide;
And though Kildare tower haughtily, there's ruin at the root,
Else why, since Edward fell to earth, had such a tree no fruit?
True Geraldines! Brave Geraldines! as torrents mould the earth,
You channeled deep old Ireland's heart by constancy and worth;
When Ginckle 'leaguered Limerick, the Irish soldiers gazed
To see if the setting sun dead Desmond's banner blazed!
And still it is the peasant's hope upon the Curragh's mere,
"They live who'll see ten thousand men with good Lord Edward here."
So let them dream till brighter days, when, not by Edward's shade,
But by some leader true as he, their lines shall be arrayed!
These Geraldines! These Geraldines! rain wears away the rock,
And time may wear away the tribe that stood the battle's shock;
But ever, sure, while one is left of all that honoured race,
In front of Ireland's chivalry is that Fitzgerald's place;
And though the last were dead and gone, how many a field and town,
From Thomas' Court to Abbeyfeile, would cherish their renown!
And men will say of valour's rise, or ancient power's decline,
"'T will never soar, it never shone, as did the Geraldine."
The Geraldines! the Geraldines! and are there any fears
Within the sons of conquerors for full a thousand years?
Can treason spring from out a soil bedewed with martyr's blood?
Or has that grown a purling brook which long rushed down a flood?
By Desmond swept with sword and fire, by clan and keep laid low,
By Silken Thomas and his kin, by sainted Edward! No!
The forms of centuries rise up, and in the Irish line
Command their son to take the post that fits the Geraldine!
Scheme | ABACCDDEE FFXXCGHGXIJ XDKKLLMM NNOXOH BPP QQRRDDSS TTUUXX VV WWEEXXIJ AAYYZZIJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101110101 1101010111 101 1110111110101 01101110101101 01011101111101 0011110110111 1101111111101 11110101110011 010111011 11011100110101 011100101111101 01101111010 1 11010101011101 01001011111110 1 1111111111110 1 01010111010001 11111110111 11111100010101 11011101110101 11110101110101 0101101110101 11110101111101 11111111101 11111001110101 1111110011 10101011010101 11111101111101 11110111111 1 1101111110110 000111101011 11111111111101 011111011101 1111110101 11011101010101 11011101010101 11010100110101 11111011100101 110101110101 01110100110101 11110111110111 1111110101 11011101110001 111100010101 111010111101 011101101011 11111101111101 11111101111101 11110111111101 1111110101 01110101110101 1101111111111 01110100110101 010101011100101 110111110101 01111111101001 111011101110001 0101011101 01011100110101 110111011111 1111011111101 110111010110111 11010011110101 01110011000101 01111101110001 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 4,021 |
Words | 712 |
Sentences | 39 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 11, 8, 6, 3, 8, 6, 2, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 69 |
Letters per line (avg) | 46 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 316 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 69 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 3:41 min read
- 19 Views
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"The Geraldines" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56797/the-geraldines>.
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