Books and other items printed in Gaelic from 1871 to 1900 > Gaelic bards, and original poems

92
MODERN GAELIC BARDS.
Come thou grave-digger near,—
Come and tell in my ear
Whose it is I have got in my hand ;
Till I question the head
Of the life it once led,
Though little ’twill heed my demand.
Wert thou once some young maid
In beauty arrayed,
And virtuous and pure in thy ways,—
With thy charms fairly set,
To ensnare like a net,
The hearts of the young with their grace ?
And now those bright charms,
That woke love’s sweet alarms,
Are thus loathsome to every one.
Out, out on the grave.
That spoiled thee so bare
Of that beauty such triumphs that won.
Or wert thou the Leech,
Who thy patients could teach
Every ache, every pain to allay—
Boasting elate,
Thy specific so great,
That could snatch from Death’s hand his prey 1
Alas ! and that power
Was lost in the hour
When relief thy own sickness did crave—
And then all thy skill,
In the bolus and pill,
Could not keep thee a day from thy grave.