Right and Might

To Dr. Mark Ryan.

Sad is the cry of the wind on the wastes of the sea:
Sadder the sigh of our hearts, Eire! for thee.
Swift and fierce the lance of the lightning flies;
More swift, more fierce, our wrath, till thine anguish dies.

Who shall stay the surge of the tireless tide?
He, who shall stay our march, and none else beside.
Who shall still the skies, when the thunders roar?
Only he, who shall still our storm of war.

Heart of our hearts, Eire! thou hast the right:
Heart of our hearts! it is thou shalt have the might.
Nay! since thine is the right, this day art thou
Mightier far than the foe, that wrongs thee now.

Be it this year, or be it a thousand hence,
They shall vanish, who do thee violence.
God from His Heavens can bid the sun withdraw:
But not His infinite justice! not His Law!

1896.