Poems (Ford)/Lough Neagh

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LOUGH NEAGH.
Fair lake, I've stood upon thy shore In Erin's glorious spring,When o'er thy azure bosom swept The sea-gull's snowy wing,When, folded over earth's broad breast, From the bright wave belowAn emerald mantle stretched, with fringe Of hawthorns' fragrant snow.
Thy placid bosom shows no sign Of ages long gone by—It but reflects the varied hues Of Erin's changeful sky; ​No footprints of the buried race In the green vale below,Who lived, loved, died, and left no trace, Thy tranquil waters show.
No sunken towers to greet my sight Thy glassy mirror gave,Save where Shane's Castle stood alone Reflected in the wave.Its towers, like hoary sages, raise Their heads, with ruin gray,To tell us of a grand old race Forever passed away.
That brave old valiant race who long The Saxon power withstood—To keep proud Freedom's ark afloat They freely shed their blood;Now o'er their hallowed dust is heard The despot's clanking chain—Their moss-grown tombs, their ruined halls, Are all that now remain.
Not all! In Erin's heart of hearts Their memory still will live,Kept fragrant by the purest tears A mother's love can give;And on her history's brightest page Their deeds, their high renown, ​Shall shine—our country's northern lights, When tower and hall go down.
The waters break in heavy sobs Against the castle's wall,Like spirits of the olden time Come back to weep its fall;But sobs are Erin's household words— Since tyrants trod her strandShe's shed a flood of tears and blood Might deluge all the land.
Fair lake, while gazing on thy breast And on my country's woe,I've almost wished that far above Her mountains thou wouldst flow;Better that Lethe's wave o'er her And all her woes should roll,Did not the heavenly light of hope Shine on her tortured soul.
The iron hand that long has held Our nation in the dust,So often wet with martyrs' blood, At last must turn to rust;One vigorous blow its strength must crush,— Once crushed, 't will rise no moreTo blight the bloom on Erin's cheek, Or curse Lough Neagh's green shore.
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