Legend

Padraic Colum 1881 (County Longford) – 1972 (Enfield)



THERE is an hour, they say,
On which your dream has power:
Then all you wish for comes,
As comes the lost field-bird
Down to the island-lights;
There is an hour, they say,
That's woven with your wish:
In dawn, or dayli’ gone,
In mirk-dark, or at noon,
In hush or hum of day,
May be that secret hour.

A herd-boy in the rain
Who looked o'er stony fields;
A young man in a street,
When fife and drum went by,
Making the sunlight shrill;
A girl in a lane,
When the long June twilight
Made friendly far-off things,
Had watch upon the hour:
The dooms they met are in
The song my grand-dam sings.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
59

Quick analysis:

Scheme AbxxxAxxxab cxxxxcxdbxd
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 578
Words 117
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 11, 11

Padraic Colum

Padraic Colum was an Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer, playwright, children's author and collector of folklore. more…

All Padraic Colum poems | Padraic Colum Books

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