Poetry Codex

American

Abram Joseph Ryan (Father Ryan)

1838–1886

Abram Joseph Ryan (1838–1886) was an American Catholic priest and poet, born in Maryland or Virginia and raised in Missouri. Ordained in the 1860s, he served as a chaplain to Confederate troops during the Civil War, and afterwards ministered in parishes in the South, notably in Mobile, Alabama.

Known as the 'Poet-Priest of the South', he wrote devotional verse as well as elegies for the Confederate cause, among them 'The Conquered Banner' and 'The Sword of Robert Lee'. His collected Poems: Patriotic, Religious, Miscellaneous appeared in 1880 and was reprinted in the 1890s.

Poems (131)

  1. Song of the Mystic
  2. Reverie ["Only a few more years!"]
  3. Lines -- 1875
  4. A Memory
  5. Rhyme
  6. Nocturne ["I sit to-night by the firelight,"]
  7. The Old Year and the New
  8. Erin's Flag
  9. The Sword of Robert Lee
  10. Life
  11. A Laugh -- and A Moan
  12. In Memory of My Brother
  13. "Out of the Depths"
  14. A Thought
  15. March of the Deathless Dead
  16. Reunited
  17. A Memory
  18. At Last
  19. A Land without Ruins
  20. Memories
  21. The Prayer of the South
  22. Feast of the Assumption
  23. Sursum Corda
  24. A Child's Wish
  25. Presentiment
  26. Last of May
  27. "Gone"
  28. Feast of the Sacred Heart
  29. In Memory of Very Rev. J. B. Etienne
  30. Tears
  31. Lines (Two Loves)
  32. The Land We Love
  33. In Memoriam
  34. Reverie ["We laugh when our souls are the saddest,"]
  35. I Often Wonder Why 'Tis So
  36. A Blessing
  37. July 9th, 1872
  38. Wake Me a Song
  39. In Memoriam (David J. Ryan, C.S.A.)
  40. What? (To Ethel)
  41. The Master's Voice
  42. A "Thought-Flower"
  43. A Death
  44. The Rosary of My Tears
  45. Death
  46. What Ails the World?
  47. A Thought
  48. In Rome
  49. After Sickness
  50. Old Trees
  51. After Seeing Pius IX
  52. Sentinel Songs
  53. Fragments from an Epic Poem
  54. Lake Como
  55. "Peace! Be Still"
  56. Good Friday
  57. My Beads
  58. At Night
  59. Nocturne ["Betimes, I seem to see in dreams"]
  60. Sunless Days
  61. A Reverie ["Did I dream of a song? or sing in a dream?"]
  62. St. Mary's
  63. De Profundis
  64. When? (Death)
  65. The Conquered Banner
  66. A Christmas Chant
  67. "Far Away"
  68. Listen
  69. Wrecked
  70. Dreaming
  71. A Thought
  72. "Yesterdays"
  73. "To-Days"
  74. "To-Morrows"
  75. Inevitable
  76. Sorrow and the Flowers
  77. Hope
  78. Farewells
  79. Song of the River
  80. Dreamland
  81. Lines ["Sometimes, from the far-away,"]
  82. A Song
  83. Parting
  84. St. Stephen
  85. A Flower's Song
  86. The Star's Song
  87. Death of the Flower
  88. Singing-Bird
  89. Now
  90. M * * *
  91. God in the Night
  92. Poets
  93. A Legend
  94. Thoughts
  95. Lines ["The world is sweet, and fair, and bright,"]
  96. C.S.A.
  97. The Seen and The Unseen
  98. Passing Away
  99. The Pilgrim (A Christmas Legend for Children)
  100. A Reverie ["Those hearts of ours -- how strange! how strange!"]
  101. ---- Their Story Runneth Thus
  102. Night After the Picnic
  103. Lines ["The death of men is not the death"]
  104. Death of the Prince Imperial
  105. In Memoriam (Father Keeler)
  106. Mobile Mystic Societies
  107. Rest
  108. Follow Me
  109. The Poet's Child
  110. Mother's Way
  111. Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple
  112. St. Bridget
  113. New Year
  114. Zeila (A Story from a Star)
  115. Better than Gold
  116. Sea Dreamings
  117. Sea Rest
  118. Sea Reverie
  119. The Immaculate Conception
  120. Fifty Years at the Altar
  121. Song of the Deathless Voice
  122. To Mr. and Mrs. A. M. T.
  123. To Virginia (on Her Birthday)
  124. Epilogue
  125. In Remembrance
  126. A Reverie [`"O Songs!" I said:']
  127. Only a Dream
  128. The Poet
  129. The Child of the Poet
  130. The Poet Priest
  131. Wilt Pray for Me?

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