AN GAOḊAL.
167
PREFACE TO FATHER McHALE'S
Songs for Freedom.
I
Here have I gathered together
The songs of fugitive years,
Some sung 'mid the wild mountain heather,
Some strung in the rainbow of tears,
Some chanted in leisure from duty —
From holiest work I had done —
When the sunlight was strong with its beauty,
Or the evening was faint with its sun.
II
If they stir but one soul, and awaken
One throb in a slumbering nerve;
If they help but one heart over taken
By woes that it does not deserve;
If they add but one gleam to the glory,
The land of my love should behold,
They are sweeter to me than all story,
They are dearer to me than all gold.
III
For this land that we love with its splendour,
This land of our holiest love,
With its burden of sorrow so tender,
With its hope in the Heavens above ;
This land needs some song in its sorrow,
Some chant that may say:—
Thou hast passed through the night-sea, Gomorrah,
Look aloft! It is day
DEDICATION.
Here, Ireland, in thy mother-hands
I place my little book of songs,
That mostly wails about thy wrongs,
Most martyred of all martyr lands !
And I would wish my words were flame
To melt the icy hearts of men,
To glow to make thee Queen again,
And bring thee back thine ancient fame,
As land of saints, as land of song,
Full rich upon thine own resource ;
Not subject to a Foreign Force,
Nor ruined by a reign of wrong.
But feeling all thy pristine fire
Flash back into thy languid eyes,
And seeing in the o’er-arched skies
No more a look of gloom or ire,
But several spans of seven-hued bows,
That smile and shine as signs to show
Net always shall thy tear-drops flow,
As when thy deluge-waters rose,
(The deluge thy bitter woes).
And drowned the land, and quenched the sun,
But left untouched thy hope in God;
For still above the ruined sod
Thy cry went up — “God's will be done !”
From where thine ark was sailing fair —
Thine ark of Faith, and Hope, and Love —
Full in the eye of God above,
Out through the storms that shook the air !
And, land of mine, thou'rt still the same,
Though ashes strew thine aged head,
Thy grand traditions are not dead,
Nor is thine ancient valour tame.
But one shall rouse, and one inspire
Thy mind to plan, thy hand to dare
For freedom, free as chainless air,
And warm for hearts as flaming fire!
And then, instead of hates and wrongs,
And darkness of protracted night,
Shall burst upon my longing sight,
Thy full-orb'd day to bless my songs!
And some were writ in hours of woe,
And some were writ in hours of ease,
To music of the shining seas
And chorus of the winds that blow.
Across the surfs of snow-white spray,
Nor pause until they reach the land,
And swoon upon the yellow sand
Within the shelter of the bay.
Although they show no skilful hand,
Nor any wealth of minstrel art,
They welled up from an honest heart.
Whose frequent prayer is — “God save Ireland!”
THE CLERGY AND THE LANGUAGE.
If the Clergy in America lead in the Irish Lan-
guage movement its success is certain. In doing
so they have a noble example before them — “The
Lion of the Fold” — the immortal and to be lament¬
ed Archbishop McHale. They could not
engage in a nobler task than that of pres¬
serving the language in which their sainted pre-
decessor in the ministry converted their pagan sires.
It is only a question of time, of short time now in
mother land until all the clergy are engaged in it.
Through the untiring and indefatigable zeal of
of the Rev J. Nolan O. D. C. of St Theresa's
Dublin, a Gaelic monthly journal has been pub-
lished there, and he has enlisted the active sym-
pathy and cooperation of the leading men of Ire-
land, lay and cleric. The patriotic Archbishop
Croke is the patron of the Gaelic Union, with the
O'Connor Don as its president.
After this noble example, will not our clergy
here take an active part?
Through the exertions of one minister in Wales,
the Rev Mr. Jones, the Welsh Language has
been wrested from imminent decay. See an article
from Mr. John Fleming in the Dubln Gaelic Jour-
nal for Nov. 1882.
We believe every priest, having an Irish name,
in the United States has got a copy of the GAEL.
We stated in a recent issue why, in our opinion,
they should support, energetically support the
Irish Language movement. We entreat of them
to do so, because if they do, as already stated, its
success is certain,
