Matheson Collection > Measgra dánta

NOTES 301
Like th' angry griffin she assumes the fight.
Fierce on she rushes, conscious of her might ;
Like the red bolts of heaven she pours her shot,
Dire as their flight, and as their lightning hot.
God of the winds ! safe passage now bestow.
Soft o'er the deep may prosperous breezes blov/ ;
O'er the rough rocks and waves do Thou preside.
And through the slumb'ring deep otu: progress guide.
THE EPILOGUE
•
Speed my good ship along the rolling sea,
O Heaven ! and smiUng skies and gales decree ;
May she be strong in war, and rich in peace.
Terror before her fly, and danger cease.
O Christ, Who suffered for me, hear my prayer ;
My ship, my self and crew, take to Thy care,
And safely waft us through the smiling main.
Till from Dtmboy we reach the Groyne in Spain.
[MS. readings in above : — 1. 29, sides . . . show. 1. 30, glows.
1. 38, flow. 1. 42, O Heavens !]
A Franciscan exile's thoughts on his native land. " It is for Christ's
sake that I have torn myself away from my kinsmen and companions."
Sources. 23 I 40, p. 189. 23 F 16, p. 89.
The full poem consists of 29 qq. After 1. 40 there is an apologue
of 16 qq., here omitted, telling how Louis (Labhaois), son and heir of
the King of Sicily, left his father and entered the Franciscan Order.
The date at which our poet flourished is vmcertain. I have met
with only one other poem ascribed to him, viz. Bean ar n-aithéirghe
Eire, an address to Niall Mór Ó Néill, who died in 1397. But the
authorship of this poem is very far from certain. Although it is
ascribed to Tadhg Camchosach Ó Dálaigh in 23 F 16 (p. 55), 23 I 40
(p. 196), and 23 D 5 (p. 306), it is important to observe that in each of