A Nation Once Again.

Thomas Osborne Davis 1814 (Mallow, County Cork) – 1845 (Dublin)



I.
  
When boyhood's fire was in my blood
I read of ancient freemen
For Greece and Rome who bravely stood,
THREE HUNDRED MEN AND THREE MEN.
And then I prayed I yet might see
Our fetters rent in twain,
And Ireland, long a province, be
A NATION ONCE AGAIN.
  
  
II.
  
And, from that time, through wildest woe,
That hope has shone, a far light;
Nor could love's brightest summer glow
Outshine that solemn starlight:
It seemed to watch above my head
In forum, field and fane;
Its angel voice sang round my bed,
"A NATION ONCE AGAIN."
  
  
III.
  
It whispered, too, that "freedom's ark
And service high and holy,
Would be profaned by feelings dark
And passions vain or lowly:
For freedom comes from God's right hand,
And needs a godly train;
And righteous men must make our land
A NATION ONCE AGAIN."
  
  
IV.
  
So, as I grew from boy to man,
I bent me to that bidding--
My spirit of each selfish plan
And cruel passion ridding;
For, thus I hoped some day to aid--
Oh! can such hope be vain?--
When my dear country shall be made
A NATION ONCE AGAIN.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on May 02, 2023

1:02 min read
28

Quick analysis:

Scheme xaxabcbA dedefcfA gbgbhchA ijijkckA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,015
Words 206
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8

Thomas Osborne Davis

Thomas Osborne Davis October 14 1814 - September 16 1845 was an Irish writer and politician who was the chief organizer and poet of the Young Ireland movement Thomas Davis was born in the town of Mallow in the county of Cork He studied in Trinity College Dublin and received an Arts degree precursory to his being called to the Irish Bar in 1838 He established The Nation newspaper with Charles Gavan Duffy and John Blake Dillon He dedicated his life to Irish nationalism He wrote some stirring nationalistic ballads originally contributed to The Nation and afterwards republished as Spirit of the Nation as well as a memoir of Curran the Irish lawyer and orator prefixed to an edition of his speeches and he had formed many literary plans which were brought to naught by his death from tuberculosis in 1845 at the age of 30 more…

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