Page 228 - Demo

228 Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh
Lament for the Death of Eoghan Ruadh O’Neill
(By Thomas Davis)
“DID they dare, did they dare, to slay Eoghan Ruadh O’Neill?” “Yes, they slew with poison him they feared to meet with steel.” “May God wither up their hearts! May their blood cease to flow,
May they walk in living death, who poisoned Eoghan Ruadh.”
“Though it break my heart to hear, say again the bitter words. From Derry, against Cromwell, he marched to measure swords: But the weapon of the Sassanach met him on his way.
And he died at Cloch Uachtar, upon St. Leonard’s day.
“Wail, wail ye for the Mighty One. Wail, wail ye for the Dead, Quench the hearth, and hold the breath—with ashes strew the head. How tenderly we loved him. How deeply we deplore!
Holy Saviour! but to think we shall never see him more!
“Sagest in the council was he, kindest in the hall,
Sure we never won a battle—’twas Eoghan won them all. Had he lived—had he lived—our dear country had been free: But he’s dead, but he’s dead, and ’tis slaves we’ll ever be.
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