OUR MEMORIES.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 86, 19 December 1874, Page 13

OUR MEMORIES.

BY " BVA" OP THE ' NATION,'

WM «a?rlo« c h^^° he - rty ' a , Dd reaident in Q«^nsl*nd,Auatmlia, where her patriotic husband enjoj s a large practice iv the medical professioi.) Let us take them to our hearts awhile, the memories of our land lho wrapped m gloom and woe they be, yet still there proud and grand; * Those records old, like glowing gems set in the gold of sons, Are hoarded treasures still for us thro' years of scorn and wrong. There are thousand themes of Ireland's soil for Irish tongue to tell With paling cheeks, and flashing eyes, and hearts that wildly swell ; J Nor minstrel's harp or poet's pen had e'er a nobler field man thy old name, Irene dear, since far back time can yield. God bless ye, great and good of yore, for all that ye have left - We chng unto those lessons now, when of all else bereft : need^them well— we need them well— in all their strength and To teach us how to bear ourselves and fight the glorious fight. Ah ! Brian, thanks be to your name— though lone and dark you He As many hghts spring up from you as through the mominjr sky • JrJu V lit r6Waj>d yy ° Uj Aodh o>NeiU > for that same deed you We feel that, though we may be slaves, it is not ire that ought. Oh ! Grattan, there are eyes that still will glow to think of you • And brave Fitzgerald, yet we turn to you, the warm and true ; ' Tou -cannot say— you cannot say, O ! men of Irish birth, That there is nothing left to-day to raise you from the earth. Yes, noble are the memories ye left, our fearless siresDo they not burn within the land like consecrated fires ? Bright beacons still remain for us untir'd to journey by— Not lit upon the lowly earth, but shining in the sky ! Say, what shall be the memories that we will leave to guide ? Our children— shall their heritage be iafamy or pride P What are the thoughts that will arise when years have mss'd away, c As they shall linger on our names— oh ! will they curse or pray ? Shall they, enwrapp'd in freedom's light, be rulers of their land— W \ ess P rotecti *ff all the rights that we had plann'd ? Or shall they, crushed by deep disgrace, be taunted and defied, lied ? braggart race, who flourish'd, shrunk, and Shall nations point to them and say, "Their wives were Helots bom — They vow'd to break the strangers chain, and yet they were forsworn ; The good, the true were in their ranks, and yet they shrank away And serfs and slaves upon the soil their children are to-day."