But oh, how blest they sink to rest, O'er his watch-fire's fading embers Now the foeman's cheek turns white, May we pledge that horn in triumph round!1 Many a heart that now beats high, In slumber cold at night shall lie, Nor waken even at victory's sound :But oh, how blest that hero's sleep, O'er whom a wond'ring world shall weep! AFTER THE BATTLE. NIGHT closed around the conqueror's way, The last sad hour of freedom's dream, 'TIS SWEET TO THINK. 'Tis sweet to think, that, where'er we rove, We are sure to find something blissful and dear, 1 "The Irish Corna was not entirely devoted to martial purposes. In the heroic ages, our ancestors quaffed Meadh out of them, as the Danish hunters do their beverage at this day."-Walker. 2 I believe it is Marmontel who says, "Quand on n'a pas ce que l'on aime, il faut aimer ce que l'on a."-There are so many matter-of-fact people, who take such jeux d'esprit as this defence of inconstancy, to be the actual and genuine And that, when we're far from the lips we love, 'Twere a shame, when flowers around us rise, And, wherever a new beam of beauty can strike, THE IRISH PEASANT TO HIS MISTRESS. THROUGH grief and through danger thy smile hath cheer'd my way, Till hope seem'd to bud from each thorn that round • me lay; The darker our fortune, the brighter our pure love burn'd, Till shame into glory, till fear into zeal was turn'd; Yes, slave as I was, in thy arms my spirit felt free, And bless'd even the sorrows that made me more dear to thee. Thy rival was honor'd, while thou wert wrong'd and scorn'd, Thy crown was of briers, while gold her brows adorn'd; sentiments of him who writes them, that they compel one, in self-defence, to be as matter-of-fact as themselves, and to remind them, that Democritus was not the worse physiolo gist, for having playfully contended that snow was black; nor Erasmus, in any degree, the less wise, for having written an ingenious encomium of folly. $ Meaning, allegorically, the ancient Church of Ireland. 1 This song was written for a fête in honor of the Prince of Wales's birthday, given by my friend, Major Bryan, at his seat in the county of Kilkenny. WEEP ON, WEEP ON. WEEP on, weep on, your hour is past; The sage's tongue hath warn'd in vain ; Oh, Freedom! once thy flame hath fled, It never lights again. Weep on-perhaps in after days, They'll learn to love your name; |