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Show THE EMERALD ISLE. (An uncollected poem, by John Greenleaf Whittier, in "The Independent.") Brightly figure thy shores upon history's pages. Where names dear to fame and to science long known, Like unsettling stars through the lapse of long ages From the sea-girdled isle of Hibernia have shone; Fair Island ! thy vales are embalmed in the story, Which history telleth of ages gone by, When Ossian's proud heroes strode onward to glory And ocean's wave answered their loud battle-cry. The wild vince is creeping the shamrock is closing clos-ing Its foliage o'er many a dimly-seen pile Where entombed on the fields of their fame are reposing re-posing The proud peerless chiefs of the Emerald Isle. And in far later years, with the purest devotion To the high cause of freedom, full many a son Of the green shores of Erin, the gem of the ocean, Fair evergreen laurels of glory has won. The martyred O'Neal and the gallant Fitzgerald, On the bright list of glary forever shall stand, And fame circle Emmet, the eloquent herald, Who wakened the spirit and pride of his land. They are gone! they are gone! but their memories that linger On the shores where they perished no wretch " shall revile, No slave of a tyrant shall dare point the finger Qf scorn at those sons of the Emerald Isle. Hibernia, though tyrants seek to degrade thee, Yet proud sons of science acknowledged their birth On thy sea-girded shores, whose high genius has made thee The gem of the ocean, the wonder of the earth. Long, long, has the halo of glory surrounded The memory of Bryan the pride of thy shore; And o'er the dim lakes and wild valleys have sounded The heart-touching strains of Carolan and Moore: O, soon may the banners of freedom wave o'er thee, Green Island of Erin! may liberty smile To the lustre of primitive ages restore thee, The gem of the ocean the Emerald Isle! |