Thomas Stanley Tracey, Scholar, Poet and Editor
May 29, 1833 Connaught Telegraph (Mayo)
Married. On Tuesday in the Church of St. Nicholas, Galway, by the Rev. John
D'Arcy afterwards by the Rev Mr. Finn, R.C.V., T.R. Tracy, Esq,
A.B. Classical Professor, to the accomplished Miss Barry.
Flan is an unusual name and as such his father
was probably Flan (Flanagan) Tracy, a gauger
[revenue officer] of Athlone
East Walk, Westmeath, who died 17 December 1825.
Flan Tracy, Siz. (Mr.
O’Connor), June 13, 1797, aged 22; R.C., s. of Flan, Agricola; b. Co.
Roscommon. Sch. 1800. B.A. Vern. 1801. [born 1775]
Scholar of Trinity
College...1800 Flan Tracy
Also there are also the follow records:
1791
Subscribers...Mr. Flan. Tracy, Mount-talbot
[Tisara Roscommon]...
Killarney: a descriptive poem
1816 Return of Officers of Excise in Ireland
Flan Tracy, Gaugers,
[revenue officer] £80, Athlone
East Walk, Westmeath.
1816-8 Return of Sums charged to Incidents of Excise in Ireland for
Fines for Illicit Distillation
Flanagan Tracy, gauger, £13/10/10 share fines 6 Aug. 1817, £45/10/0 rewards 28 Jan. 1818
Excise Ireland -
Allowances ceased in the year ended 5 Jan 1826
Flanagan Tracey, Officer, died 17 December 1825, Amount per annum
£30.9.3
2 Mar 1822-10 Mar 1822 Quit
Rent Office - Papers relating to the crown estates of Doon and Trust, County
Galway
2 letters from Flan Tracey, Athlone [Westmeath], the first to William Plunkett,
Attorney General, the second to Robert Reeves, Solicitor for the Forfeited
Estates, relating to Tracey's discovery of concealed crown land in County
Galway. NAI QRO/4/3/7/58
Flanani Tracy (Proceptoris)
& Brigittae McLaughlin
Margartam Tracy b. 27 Jan 1794 illegitiniam Sp. Jacob
Dolan & Maria Doyle. St. Peter's Athlone Parish Roscommon (LDS)
Flanani Tracy & Brigittae
Mc Laughlin
Margaritam Tracy b. 27 Jan 1794 Bishops Caundle, Dorset, England (LDS)
Rachael
E. Higgins, widow, 87, b.
1814 Ireland [d. of Chal. F. Tracy & Bridget McLaughlin],
died 12 Oct 1901 499 -4th St Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States, Buried
14 Oct 1901 Holy Cross Cemetery
Rachael Tressey & Dionitic
Higgins of Leitrim
Annam Terisam Higgans b. 26 Feb 1851
Sp. Petro Dolan & Rosa Higgins. Mohill Parish
Rachael Elizabetha Tracy & Dionisio Higgins
Michaelem Carolum Higgins b. 5 Feb
1854 Sp. Michaell & Margarita McCabe. Gortletteragh
Parish
Rachel Tracy & Dionisio Higgins
Margaritam Higgins b. 22 Feb 1856 Sp. Joseph Gulielano Higgans & Brigida Clissphell. Gortletteragh
Parish
1857
Griffith Valuation
Denis Higgins, Mullaghbrack
Cloone Leitrim.
Monday,
October 14, 1901 Brooklyn Eagle
Obituary - Rachel Elizabeth Higgins
Rachel Elizabeth Higgins died Saturday
morning at her home of her son Charles M. Higgins, 439 Fourth street in the 87th year of her age. She was near her 88th
birthday when she died of the effects of old age. She was born in Ireland her
father being Charles Flanagan Tracy
of Athlone Ireland, A distinguished surgeon, scholar
and Athlete. Her ancestors were Norman-Irish and were famed for their longevity
and great physical strength. Many of their descendants are in this country.
Mrs. Higgins evidenced great vitality. Her hair was brown after 70 years, while
she showed none of the feebleness of age until she was past 80 years old. She
is survived by her son and daughter. Her first born were triplets, one of whom
lived till maturity. The funeral was held today.
1862 to 1869 Brooklyn city directory
Rachel E Higgins, wid. teacher, h. Degraw n. Columbia
1878 to 1881 Brooklyn city directory
Elizabeth R Higgins, wid Dennis, h 411 Atlantic av
1880 Census - 411 Atlantoic, Brooklyn, Kings,
New York
Charles Higgins, head, 25, lawyer, b. 1855 Ireland
Elizabeth Higgins, mother, 66, keep house, b. 1814 Ireland
Marguritta Higgins, sister, 21, b. 1859 Ireland
Mary Stratford, sister, 36, b. 1844 Ireland
1887 to 1889 Brooklyn, Kings, New York
Rachel E. Higgins, wid. Dennis, h 197 9th
1900 Census - 499 4th Street Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Char M Higgins, head, b. Oct 1854, 45, single, b. Ireland, parents born Ireland, emigrated 1860, 40 years resident, Na, M fr (Iron?)
Rachel E Higgins, mother, b. Dec? 1813, 86, widowed, 8 children, 2 alive, b. Ireland, parents born Ireland, emigrated 1858, 42 years resident
Mary A Sheaur?, servant, b. Dec 1874, 25, single, b. Ireland, emigrated 1890,
Annie Healy, servant, 24, b. Apl? 1876, 24, single, b. Ireland, emigrated 1896
Marie Briscoe, servant27, b. May 1873, 27, single, b. Ireland, emigrated 1889
Marguerite Gianella, 83, b. 22 Feb 1859 Mulloch, Co. Brach, Ireland [Mullaghbrack Cloone Leitrim], (d. of Dennis Higgins & Rachel E. Tracy born Ireland), died 11 Mar 1942 228 Marlborough Rd. Brooklyn, Kings Co., New York, buried 14 Mar 1942 Holy Cross Cemetery, Widowed, spouse's name John
Charles M. Higgins, 75, b. 4 Oct 1854 Ireland (s. of Dennis Higgins & Rachel Lis... ...acy), married, spouse Alexandra Fransioli Higgins, d. 21 Oct 1929 Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States
Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York
Charles Michael Higgins (1854 Ireland - 1929
(aged 74–75) Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18013120/charles-michael-higgins
Charles Michael Higgins Birth 4 October 1854C county Leitrim, Ireland
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/GWF3-4H8
“Immigrant, inventor, manufacturer, civic
activist, historian, freethinker, philanthropist, husband, and father, Charles Michael Higgins (1854-1929)...
Charles Michael Higgins was born in Mullock Brah (Mullaghbrack),Mohill, County Leitrim,
Ireland. His father was Dennis Higgins,
about whom little seems to be known. His mother was Rachel Elizabeth Tracy Higgins
(1813-1901), the daughter of Charles Flanagan Tracy of Athlone.”...” According
to her granddaughter Rachel Everson, Charles M. Higgins “always
told me [that she] was well educated and had attended some classes at Trinity
College in Dublin, altho I tried but found no records
there of her or her brother.”...
S. Jaffe
4/12/15 Higgins family report, Brooklyn Historical Society
In 1871, in a letter to ‘Notes and Queries’, Thomas Stanley Tracey
states that he received a poem/bagatelle
‘Provincial Characteristics' as “having
been extemporised [performed] by my father, a naval brother Medico and friend
of the Doctor's” [Dr. John Brennan of Dublin commonly called " The
Wrestling. Doctor," was the last recognised chief of this sept. Families of the name.].
There are the following references:
Thomas Tracey, Scholar of Trinity College Dublin, letter to Rev P Bliss 1841 (British Library 34,574 F 322)
James Tracy, letter to Rev P Bliss 1829 (British Library 34,570 F 246)
In 1850 and 1860’s
he was engaged in the editorial department and wrote poetry for the “Limerick
century Reporter” newspaper.
6 April 1855 Cork Examiner
... Stanley Tracy, A.D., Ex-scholar, T.C.D.,
uniformly a First Honor Man, (formerly Sizsr) recommended by Noblemen, Dignitaries, &c., and
others of the Highest Literary ...
31 December 1855 Cork Examiner
...Thomas Stanley Tracey, Ex-Scholar, formerly
Sizar, A.M., and uniformly First Honor
man of T.C.D., whose Pupils have been successful Candidates for University and Military ...
In 1862, there was a continuation of a feud
between Maurice Lenihan and Francis Counihan owner of the Munster News when Thomas Stanley
Tracey, assistant Editor of the Limerick Reporter, felt he had been insulted in
the columns of the Munster News. The Limerick Reporter of September 26 carried
Tracey’s riposte, signed “A Constant Reader”, was “a
very pungent letter which cut Counihan to the
marrow.” Lenihan and Tracey expected “a most vehement
and vindictive response" from the Munster News and were nonplussed when
all remained calm. Lenihan derided suggestions that
he might be sued and even when Counihan’s writ for
libel was served on him he “laughed to scorn”.
the offer that the writ would be withdrawn if
an apology and donation of £50 to the poor were forthcoming. An apology had to
be printed in several newspapers. (Brendan Burke "A
Brief History of the Munster News 1851-1935" The Old Limerick Journal,
Winter Edition, 2011.)
In 1866 Maurice Lenihan published
‘Limerick, its history and
antiquities’.
“I have enjoyed the constant, efficient, and
friendly aid of Thomas Stanley Tracey,
Esq., A.B., ex-Schol.
T.C.D., who was conveniently near me.”
Finegan states that: “It is sometimes said that a great portion of Lenihan's History
of Limerick is that of another writer, and the name of Thomas Stanley
Tracey is mentioned as being that of the real author. This objection against Lenihan's authorship need not be taken seriously. There is
no mystery about the name of Thomas Tracey. He graduated a B.A. of Trinity
College in 1841 and became a journalist. For many years he occupied the post of
sub-editor to the Limerick Reporter. Lenihan quite openly admits his obligations to Tracey. In
the Preface he states: ‘In translation, research,
revision and, generally, literary assistance I have enjoyed the constant,
efficient and friendly aid of Thomas S. Tracey, B.A., who was conveniently near
me.’ Two explanations can be assigned for the propagation of this legend of
dual authorship. In the first place, the fact that Tracey was a university
graduate impressed people at a time when few Catholics possessed a university
degree. To this it may be answered that Lenihan,
though prevented from receiving the benefit of a university training because of
his faith, had probably had quite asgood an education
as Tracey. There is the added consideration that, if Tracev
wrote a considerable part of the book, it is matter for wonder that he did not
protest when his name did not appear on the title-page as that of co-author.
In
the 8th January 1867 edition of the Limerick Reporter, there is an article
entitled "Singular mode of burial of the Traceys
of Wexford. - The English and Irish Traceys"
which may have been written by Thomas Stanley Tracey.
In 28 July 1869 (NG)
at the Limerick Petty Sessions, in a report from the Nenagh
Guardian “...we learn from the Munster News, Mr. Maurice Lenihan,
proprietor of the Limerick Reporter, was charged by Mr. Thomas J. Cassidy,
formerly a Reporter on the that paper, but now a Limerick correspondent of the
Cork Herald, with "using violent, offensive and abusive language to him in
a public street, in Limerick, calculated to induce him to commit a breach of
the peace", and Mr. Tracey, Editor of the same paper, was charged with
inciting the principal aggressor to the conduct stated....the majority of them
were for dismissing the case.”
Thomas Stanley Tracey, Henry Street,
Inhabitant Householder, house and small garden, Dock Ward
Obituary: Thomas
Stanley Tracey, 35 Henry Street 05/09/1889 death notice, late sub editor of the
Limerick Reporter and Tipperary Vindicator
Tracey - At 35 Henry street, aged 77 years, Thomas
Stanley Tracey, Esq., A.B., ex-Sch. T.C.D., who was for the period of
thirty-one years was the learned, faithful, and truely
honourable Sub-Editor of The Limerick Reporter and Tipperary Vindicator; a
gentleman of rare abilities and scholarly acquirements, truely
esteemed by the proprietor and editor of that journal, and all who knew him.
R.I.P. American papers please copy.
The following are listed in the Mount St. Lawrence
Cemetery Register:
Thomas S. Tracey, 78, 35 Henry St., 5 sep 1889, ref 14264 83 DA
Margaret Tracey, 44, Henry St, 23rd Feb 1873, ref 4710
48 Q
Ref:
Francis Finegan:
Maurice Lenihan History of Limerick. Part Two.Reprinted from Studies, Vol. XXXV.
No. 143, September 1947. http://www.limerick.ie/media/Media,3969,en.pdf
Kemmy, Jim ed (1997) The Limerick Compendium.
Gill & Macmillan.
Lenihan,
Maurice (1866) Limerick, its history and
antiquities, Dublin.
Souvenir of modern minstrelsy:
a collection of original and select poetry by Living Writers. Third Series. Trubner & Co.,
London 1862
Thomas Stanley Tracy “Provincial Characteristics”.
Notes and Queries 1871 s4-VII: 319; doi:10.1093/nq/s4-VII.172.319-a
9 December 1871 Pilot (Boston & NY)
Of John Conway, now aged 26 years son of Thomas
Conway, of 2 Mountkennett Limerick, who left his
father’s house in October 1864; when last heard of he was working in the yard of
a Mr. Comer, stonecutter, and his letters were addressed to the care of Riehard Clinton Plymouth Meeting House, Post-office,
Montgomery county Pa. Information of him will be received by Thos Stanley
Tracy, esq
, A. B., Office of Reporter and Vindicator, 104 George street, Limerick,
Ireland.
Thomas Stanley Tracey A.B. Sch.
T.C.D.
The Dublin university magazine (1876) p.37
Lenihan, Maurice (1866) Limerick, its history and
antiquities, Dublin.
* Thomas Tracey…graduated a B.A. of Trinity College in
1841 and became a journalist. For many years he occupied the post of sub-editor
to the Limerick Reporter.
Francis Finegan:
Maurice Lenihan History of Limerick. Part Two.Reprinted from Studies, Vol.
XXXV. No. 143, September 1947
Jun 3, 1834 (BL) Trinity College...Sizarship
examination...two days...successful candidates...Thomas Tracey...
February 24, 1835 (BL) Trinity College Junior Freshmen. Honours in Classics. First rank...Thomas
Tracey...
13 May 1835 (FJ) Trinity
College: Honours in Classics - First rank...Thomas Tracy.
May 19, 1835 (FJ) Trinty College
Dublin Junior Freshman...Honours in Classics, First Rank...Thomas Tracy...
May 19, 1835 (BL) Tinity College Dublin. Honorsin
Classics...First Rank...Thomas Tracy
February 19, 1836 (BL) Trinity College. Senior Freshmen. Honors in
Classics. First rank...Thomas Tracey...
12 June 1838 (FJ)
Examination for Fellowships. Yesterday (being Trinity Monday) the following
gentlemen were announced the successful candidates...as Scholars...Tracy...
June 15, 1838 (FJ) Trinty College...successful
candidates for the Scholarships...Tracy (Thos).
Jun 15, 1838 (BL) Trinity College...The following is a list of
the successful candidates for the scholarships...Tracy (Thos.).
June 20, 1838 Connaught Telegraph (Mayo) Trinity College...The following is a list of the successful candidates
for the scholarships...Tracy (Thomas).
In 1871, he signed
a letter with ‘Thomas Stanley Tracey A.B. Ex-Scholar Trin. Coll., Dublin.’
POEMS
“Sarsfield’s Defence of Limerick”
in Lenihan, Maurice
(1866) Limerick, its history and
antiquities, Dublin.
"The
Siege of Clampbetts Bow"
in Jim Kemmy's
Limerick Compendium. Also on Larry
de Cléir's debut solo album The Dog that heard the Bell.
“A Death Study”
“The Drowned”
“Folk-Lore. The Fairy-Stricken”
“The Changling’s
Recollections”
“The Night Watch”
“The Romance-Reader”
“The Better Land”
“Fountain
of Youth”
“The Crusader’s Death”
in Souvenir of modern minstrelsy: a collection
of original and select poetry by Living Writers. Third
Series. Trubner & Co., London 1862
TRANSLATIONS
“Provincial
Characteristics”. “Characteres Provinciarum.”
in Notes and Queries 1871 s4-VII: 319; doi:10.1093/nq/s4-VII.172.319-a
|
Sarsfield’s
Defence of Limerick by Thomas Stanley Tracey A.B. Sch. T.C.D. (Lenihan) |
|
|
There’s a
deathless tree on the ancient lines here the old Black
Battery stood; With leaves still
bright as the flame of the fight That dyed them
once in blood. The heroes are
dead, but the tree still lives; And still, as the
night-wind grieves, Immortal memories
wake again, That slept beneath
its leaves. And warriors’
ghosts from the battered walls Cry forth in
Fancy’s ear- For
ever curs’d be these foreign dogs, What demon brought
them here? But we drove them
out in olden times, And we’ll drive
them out again; Listen to how your
father’s fought When Sarsfield led our men. The blood rushed
back to many a heart On that eventful
day; When Sarsfield from the hill returned,- The lion from his
prey; Little the
slumbering foe had dreamed The Shannon’s
fords were passed,- But bloodhounds
staunch were Sarsfield’s dogs, And dragged them
down at last. Quick as the
lightening flash revels The ravage of the
storm, His eye had
scanned the patriot band, And seen their
ranks reform;- “Now pay them
back, my boys,” he cried, “In honest Irish
coin, The long-due debt
that Ireland owes These braggarts of
the Boyne! |
“Sword, shot, and
shell are best to tell The wrongs of
injured men- No craven King, no
traitor friends, Shall spoil our
sport again;- Up with your strong
and bloody hands, O’Brien and
O’Neill, And dig the graves
of these foreign slaves With a shower of
Irish hail.” A thousand iron
mouths of death Their fierce
replies combined,- And the stormers reeled from the fiery breach Like chaff before
the wind; To the trenches
driven, with ranks all riven, In the sweep of
that deadly shower,- Sarsfield hath wished on a foreign field, He had died in
that glorious hour. The green flag
streamed, the death-shower teemed,- The fatal bridge
was passed; There was hardly
one in that fierce sortie But had crossed it
for the last: Red ran the flood
with women’s blood, Who fought with
Limerick’s sons, Their glorious
names shall never die, While ever that
river runs. Three times the
furious foe came on,- But met and beaten
still, Their souls went
down to their last parade, With their friends
of Keeper Hill, The sun set on two
bleeding hosts, And red with a
soldier’s shame, King William with
two thousand ghosts, Left Limerick to
its fame! |
|
The Siege of Clampbetts Bow by Thomas Tracey, 1856 |
|
|
1. Oh roll the drum
and thunder,
You may talk of
all the glories, |
3. 4. Now we're told |
The Siege of Clampbetts
Bow by Jim Kenny [online]
[background article]
Souvenir of modern minstrelsy: a collection
of original and select poetry by Living Writers. Third
Series. Trubner & Co., London 1862
Thomas Stanley Tracey.
The
author of the following original
compositions is a graduate Ex-Scholar of Trinity College, Dublin, and was uniformly
a first honour man of the same University. Mr. Tracey has for some years past
been engaged in the editorial department of the "Limerick Reporter"
newspaper.
A
DEATH STUDY.
Oh
that when Death had set its seal
Upon an earthly sufferer's brow,
It left some traces
to reveal
His state of being now!
Not for the
philosophic fool
To supplement his
creedless school,
But to convince the
sons of pride
That God is still a
friend, when there is none beside.
A son of Greece,
whose country nursed
Unnumbered sophists,
sages seven,
Said God created man, at first,
To move the mirth of
Heaven;
But more in man's short life appears,
Could angels weep, to move their tears:
Sorrows that weigh the senses down,
And seem to mark the loss of a once hoped-for crown.
The misery of this
wasted mien
Is that of one who died forlorn—
A sufferer on a
chequered scene,
With more of grief than scorn.
Those oft-repeated
lines of care
Seem furrowed by an
iron share :
Let me approach with
bated breath
To spell the lore of life and mystery of death.
He
seems not one that ever dreamed
Where shades of
lasting horror lie,—
No sensual Sadducee who deemed
The God-like soul
can die,—
Nor Stoic cold, whose deadening lore
Freezes the human feelings o'er,
Binding the soul in fatal chain
Whose primal links
on earth the dreamers sought in vain.
One ray alone akin
to mirth
Remains of all the
laughing train,—
If hope of Heaven or scorn of earth ?
We ask, and ask in
vain.
Perhaps the dead was doomed to keep
Sad vigils, ere his churchyard sleep,
And turned him to death's welcome rest,
Like a poor sullen child back to his mother's breast.
Nor is that smile a
cynic's sneer,
Whose soul repelled
his fellow-men,—
For softer traits are blended here
That challenge love
again.
Perhaps he died unwept, unweeping,
Casting his soul on Heaven's keeping,
And knowing Death the gate of Life,
Received the conqueror's crown victorious in the strife !
THE
DROWNED.
AN INCIDENT OF LOUGH REE.
The
mist is on the haunted lake, the
sun is in the west,
His glory smiles
like a dying saint as he gently sinks to rest—
But
there's a speck on heaven's verge that tells of coming winds,
Like the bodings of
approaching ill in sad and lonely minds.
Who loiters on the
lone Lough Ree?—the shades of night are nigh—
A soldier and his
only child, and one that saw them die.
Death has no terrors
for the brave whose ties are not of earth,
But a father's heart
is yielding stuff tho' a soldier from his birth.
That soldier's voice
had cheered his men on the bloodiest fields of Spain,
When Europe from the
Eagle's grasp had struggled forth in vain,
Till the awful calm
of British might to the storm of battle grew,
And the War-god and
his lion-guard went down at Waterloo.
0
! golden-haired
and blue-eyed child, too thoughtful for thy years,
The roses from thy
cheek are fled, thy eyes are dim with tears—
Why seem those eyes
like angel-souls that weep for sins of men,
And having stayed
too long from God would fain go back again ?
His face was like
the sunny lake in summer's calmest hours,
As he wove a strange
mysterious wreath of fancy's funeral flowers,
Speaking of death
and the spirit-land where the soul of his mother dwelt—
Oh! ever doomed are the early wise who have thus untimely felt.
But tho' the spark of childish minds was a living fire in him,
The same had been
his father's love, altho' that light were dim :
He challenged the
waves like a soldier's son, and mocked the threatening wind—
But a lightning flash
has struck the boy—the soldier's son is blind !
Ah
! thro'
their light boat's shivered mast the fire of heaven has gone,
The herald of the
dreadful peal that now comes thundering on !—
They cannot sail,
they cannot row; the waters o'er them sweep—
Their boat is
cradled in the surf—the doomed are in the deep.
"
Hold fast, hold
fast!" the father cried, " and bear a soldier's heart,
In life we'll both
together live—or in death we'll never part."
And his child he
caught, and the wave he fought with the giant arm of love,
But the father's
strength has failed at length, and another soul's above :
One shriek he gave
of wild despair, and yielded to the deep—
His son was gone,
his labour done, he slept the lasting sleep!
FOLK-LORE,
THE FAIRY-STRICKEN.
0 Time, thou robber of our joys,
Where are our young
friends gone—
The guileless world
of girls and boys
That faded one by one ?
A fairy band
rejoices—
That dances on their
graves;—
I hear their tiny
voices,
Where
the long grass waves.
And the music of these fairy lays
Is lovely, sweet and
wild,
Like a Celtic song
of other days,
That lullabies a
child;
And human joy and sorrow,
And fancied ills and
wrongs,
Are the favourite themes they borrow
For
the subjects of their songs.
"O the fairies of
these Danish raths
Will never go away ;
You see us in our ancient paths,
In summer dreams by
day—
When the lady lily's bosom
Hath a lover of its
own,
And the gorse's golden blossom
Is
the elfin monarch's throne.
"They are not
dead—these youthful friends-
We took them all
away,
To meet the fallen angels' ends,
'Till the light of
Judgment Day;
For every changeling's duty
A fallen one's
forgiven,—
For every stolen
beauty,
A fairy enters
heaven.
"O, weep not
then when youth departs
That long hath pined
away;—
Leaving a home of breaking hearts
For their little
gods of clay:
They're changed in expiation
Of childhood's
lesser sins,
And whoever joins our nation
Eternal glory
wins."
THE
CHANGELING'S RECOLLECTIONS.
My
life-lamp pales: but memory's
parting beam
Flashes full
brightly with its dying glare
O'er the long past,
when, in a childish dream,
I saw that fairy
with the golden hair,
Whose rainbow
promises, now lost in air,
My heaven of hope so
long and brightly bound ;
Oh, that a form so
soft and angel-fair
Should mask a soul
so witch-like and profound;
All jubilant 'midst
ruin and despair—
My spirit faints—my
eyes, in sorrow drown'd,
Wane like the moon,
and my enchanted heart
Heaves with the
pressure of unearthly care,
And yet she dooms me
in her fairy song,
As if not she, but
I, had done the wrong.
THE
NIGHT WATCH.
A REMINISCENCE OF WAR.
The
star-bannered host had
enshrouded its glory,
And silence was reigning around and above,
When a watcher
repeated his sorrowful story,
A vision of war, in the vigils of love;—
The
moon like a beautiful spirit arose
From its vapoury sepulchre pale and serene,—
And memory stole
upon nature's repose
Like summer's sweet breath from the blossoming bean.
"0 ! friend of my childhood, those
halcyon days,"
Was friendship's
lament in its sorrowful hour—
"When the
spirit at large o'er the wilderness strays,
Extracting a sweet
from each transient flower :
My heart is still
with thee! its early devotion
No distance can
sever, no time can efface;
For in fancy I bound
o'er the desert of ocean
And fold thee once
more in a parting embrace.
"Young
travellers, we recked not the changes of weather—
No damp o'er the
fire of our spirits could steal—
But we'd rambled too
long and too kindly together
To part without
feeling as brothers might feel:—
And now thou art
dead, but uninjured by time—
Thy incense of life
not ingloriously shed—
Like the idols we
worshipped in youth's happy prime,
When books were our
world—when we lived with the dead.
"Unschooled in
the lore of the valley of tears,
What pictures of
life and adventure we drew,
While the rainbow of
genius, the brightener of years,
Its beautiful hues o'er reality threw!
Alas ! what a world of
mourners shall weep
That soldier's
romance that hath lured thee so far—
When the Demon of
Discord awakens from sleep,
And
saddens the earth with the horrors of war.
"Posterity's
curse and a desolate grave,
And laurels that wither in history's breath,
To the tyrants that
reign by the blood of the brave ;
Their glory shall wane to the darkness of death.
But
thou shalt repose with the noble of heart,
And the kind and the
true in the peace of the blest;
While thy presence
will gladden, wherever thou art,
The
visions of those that have loved thee the best.
"Farewell, my
beloved, 'tis the hour for repose
For hearts that are
free from the presure of care—
O'er the ramparts
afar as the sentinel goes
His night-call
resounds on the stillness of air.
A presage of promise
that night-call shall be
For thee who hast fought
for a deathless reward—
'All's well' with
the bondsmen of nature set free,—
'All's
well' with the dead that have died in the Lord!"
THE
ROMANCE-READER.
We
laugh at poetry, yet still we
cherish
Some dreamy
superstition of our own—
Some fond delusion
which we love alone :
We would not have our childish pleasures perish,
Or burn the wild
romances of our youth,
For
all the lectures of pretentious truth.
But it is impious to abuse our powers,
For loftier studies,
holier objects given,
On worthless books: a serious life is ours—
The
stern probation state for hell or heaven.
And sinful fictions are funereal flowers,
Speaking of death
through all their ghastly beauty;
Exaggerated
thought's unrest devours
The
dreamy, changeful derelicts of duty.
I knew a youth whom
oft I chanced to see
Conning the
mysteries of a Gothic rhyme,
Or wild love-legend
of the olden time;
And much I feared
his life would hapless be,
Deeming the young
idealist would prove
Another
victim of romance and love.
Time passed,—I met
him in the world abroad,
A lone and restless wanderer dreaming still;
Yet pride had not
seduced his heart from God,
Nor world-idolatry usurped his will—
Though drifting carelessly 'twixt good and ill—
A reckless soldier
of the hope forlorn
In
life's fierce battle,—still averse to strife,
But wild in creed, and politics, and life.
To reconstruct
society anew,
Humbling the proud
ones, was his favourite craze,
Like the mad giants of the ancient days ;
Yet he was frank and
earnest, bold and true,
And this is one of his rhapsodic lays:—
"
Adam, our sire, is
represented well
In the fallen natures of this sinful world,
Where Selfishness its banners has unfurled,
And Ignorance and
Spurious Virtue dwell.
If kindest hearts and
noblest minds would tell
Their world experience, it would make us weep
To see in what death-vaults their memories sleep,
Hoping for aye of
that much-longed-for waking,
The
only cure of broken hearts and breaking."
THE
BETTER LAND.
[Suggested on hearing
that song sung, on visiting the infant school of the Limerick Union, of which
O'Connor, the Irish Harper, is at present a pauper inmate.]
The
flowers are dead on Summer's grave—
Like Beauty turned
to clay;
And the sere trees sigh, as the branches wave,
With their skeleton leaves that dance and rave
At
the close of the autumn day.
Like a glimpse of
heaven is yonder wild
By the golden sunset
spann'd ;—
And the deep dark clouds have a radiance mild,
Like the bright young eyes of that pauper child,
That sings of the
Better Land.
The Better Land!—ah ! many a
time,
That simple strain
has brought
(Like the heavenward call of a Sabbath chime,
That summons our hearts from this sunless clime)
The grace of a holy
thought.
For it visits the pauper proud of old
With dreams of lowly
love,
And giveth the spendthrift
lands and gold,
And the saintly poor a firmer hold
Whose hopes were
ever above.
And angel forms seem whispering oft
In that pauper harper's ear—
As his sightless eyes are turned aloft
And their lids are dimmed with a moisture soft,
For
he hopes that death is near.
Yet his patriot love is still as deep
As when, once in the
happy past,
He strove a minstrel's fame to keep—
Nor deem'd O'Connor's race
could sleep
In a pauper's bed at
last!
But the fierce old songs of his fiery youth,
That told of his
country's wrongs,
And her chieftain's might and her daughters' truth,
Are hushed by Faith's remorseful ruth,
To the tone of a
Christian's songs :
And they all look out with a Christian's ken
From Hope's
consoling breast,
To the Better Land of landless men,
Where the wicked will never trouble again,
And the weary shall
be at rest.
THE
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.
Fountain
of Youth !
where hopes and fears,
In fancy's mystic
forms united,
Reveal the fate of
coming years,—
Delusions vain,
affections blighted,—
How fondly still our
hearts recall
The phantom forms
that childhood cherished,
Weaving the Future's
funeral pall
With threads of gold
that long have perished !
Thou dreamer, with
the poet's eyes,
Know'st thou the fate of poets' feelings
?
Thy dreams shall
turn to waking lies,
And make thee weep
the world's revealings.
The sinner's fate is
dreaming still—
Delirious in life's
fitful fevers:
When Time the stern hath worked his will,
Present and past
will prove deceivers.
We antedate our
smiles and tears,
The future claims
our joy or sadness—
The hopes and fears
of worldly years,
What are they still
but summer madness ?
The good, the great,
the wise, the free,
See darkly—yet,
'midst grief and blindness,
Fountain of Youth,
still turn to thee
For
faith in God and human kindness.
THE
CRUSADER'S DEATH.
The
sunset is glorious on Lago Maggiore;—
Crimson and gold are the hues of the skies,
But brighter the lustre,
more lasting the glory,
That kindles in heaven when the Paladin dies.
The
angels look forth from their heavenly portals
To welcome the
wanderer back to his home,
And music too grand
for the senses of mortals
Proclaims
the return of the Pilgrim of Rome.
No tear is required
o'er the warrior's ashes,
Whose spirit has
passed to the regions of light;
The wind as it
murmurs, the wave as it dashes,
Will
serve as a dirge for the champion of Right.
No mourning shall
trouble-the rest of the sleeper,
Yet tears are not
wanting from those he loved best;—
For love-lit in
sorrow the eyes of the weeper
Are watching like
stars in the beantiful West.
While a prayer for
the Pilgrim his mother is breathing
To guard him from
death in the perilous strife,
A crown of
immortelles the stranger is wreathing
To place on his
grave as the symbol of life.
Yet memory lingers,
and watches, and listens,
And loves him in
heaven as it loved him on earth;
O
! life's
but the dream of a higher existence,—
Pilgrim, thy death
was a happier birth !
1871 Notes and Queries “...the pungent bagatelle in question having
been extemporised by my father, a naval brother Medico and friend of the
Doctor's, who, many years ago, gave me the original, from which 1 made the accompanying
Latin translation, such as it is.”
|
"PROVINCIAL CHARACTERISTICS.” "A Connaught man Gets all that he can, His impudence never has missed all; He'll seldom flatter, But bully and batter, And his talk's of his kin and his pistol. "A Munster man Is civil by plan, Again and again he'll entreat you; Though you ten times refuse, He his object pursues, Which is, nine out of ten times, to cheat
you. "An Ulster man Ever means to trepan, He watches your eye and opinion; He'll ne'er disagree, Till his interest it be, And insolence marks his dominion. "A Leinster man Is with all cup and can; He calls t'other provinces knaves; Yet each of them see, When he starts with the three. That his distance he frequently
saves." |
"CHARACTERES PROVINCIARUM.” "Connaciae natus
quae possit cuncta lucratur; Nee semper, audax,
fallitur omne petens; Rarus adulator, bncchans plerumque
ferocit; Armaque magniloqnens prosapiamque crepat. "Mononia; natus
civilis compositoque Urbanus rogitat, saepe subinde rogat; Si decies negitas,
quod vult prosequithr ardens ; Ex decies novies fallere quemqne parat. "Ultoniae natus
deceptor semper ocellis Inbiat et menti, callidus
advigilans ; Ni sua res agitur
nunquam dissentit amico ; Spiritus insultans imperiumque notat. "Lageniae natus
calices et pocnla partit, Atque alios nequam furciferosque vocat; Ast ubi contendit
triplex provincia cursu,— Quaeque sibi videat,—occupat ilia
locum." |
Last update: 30
June 2023