II.
For the day had been calm,
And slow the good ship swam,
And the evening gun had been fir'd;
He knows the hearts beat wild
Of mother, wife, and child,
And of clans who to see him long desir'd, long desir'd,
And of clans who to see him long desir'd.
III.
Of the tender ones the clasp—
Of the gallant ones the grasp—
He thinks until his tears fall warm:
And full seems his wide hall,
With friends from wall to wall,
Where their welcome shakes the banners, like a storm, like a storm,
Where their welcome shakes the banners, like a storm.
IV.
Then he sees another scene—
Norman churls on the green—
"O'Sullivan aboo!" is the cry;
For filled is his ship's hold
With arms and Spanish gold,
And he sees the snake-twin'd spear wave on high, wave on high,
And he sees the snake-twin'd spear wave on high.[1]
- ↑ The Standard bearings of O'Sullivan. See O'Donovan's edition of the Banquet of Donna U-Gedh and the Battle of Mag Rath, for the Archægological Society, App., p. 349—"Bearings of O'Sullivan at the Battle of Caisglinn."
"I see, mightily advancing on the plain,
The banner of the race of noble Finghin;
His sear with a venomous adder (entwined),
His host all fiery champions."Finghin was one of their most famous progenitors.
