WHY I CELEBRATE ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XI, Issue 46, 14 March 1884, Page 17

WHY I CELEBRATE ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

Injreply to an

American friend, by Patrick Sabsfield Cassidy.

... . i. Silly question 'tis you. ask me — Why I celebrate the day 1 . > I, an exile from an island . I Full three thousand miles away, Finding here a home and welcome, Swearing fealty and defence To the starry flag of .freedom And for ever gone ; from thence 1 < . Why'should L you wondering ask me, Hold such love for isle so far, , ■ Clear across the waste of waters, Cold and distant as a star ?J. • , ii. • Friend, that island is my mother, From her fertile soil I sprang ; G-enerously my youth she nurtured, • And my lullaby she sang. Mark me well, that man's a villain, Mean and cold as clod of earth, In whose heart there's no affection For the land that gave him birth. If of it no tender memories Up before his vision swim, Tben the land that gives him shelter Can expect no love from him. ill. 'Tis a light and thoughtless question Why I love the dear old sod, Where my eyes first looked to heaven, Where my lightsome feet first trod. Must a man, because he marries, Cease to love and venerate In his heart the dear old mother Sitting sad and desolate ? Trust me, friend, the better husband Always is the better son ; Heaven protect the maiden from him Who for mother love has none. IV. Well I love this broad and noble land with love as pure as gold ; None the less because my spirit Visits now and then the old. Freely would I grasp a sabre, Bally round the flag of stars, No less ready for the reason That I'd shiver Ireland's bars. Mingled in the manly bosom Is the love for mother — wife s So my love for both lands mingles In the current of my life. v. Could you doubt our Irish fealty ? Call the muster of your dead ; Find a field in all your history" Where no Irish valour bled ; Where their deeds no rays of glory Shed around the starry flag, From the plains of Angostura On to Lookouts' highest crag. Our's a nature large and lavish, Generous as our mother land ; No cold shallow stream that barely Covers selfishness' sand. VI. And you ask the shallow question, Why I celebrate the day 1] Friend, I celebrate no triumph Won in battle's bloody fray, Triumph of one kingly despot O'er another at the cost Of a hecatomb of heroes, And perhaps of freedom lost : Nor a victory ignoble Of one faction, class, or creed, While a strife-distracted nation Wept the fratricidal deed I rtr. 'Tis not these my memory hallows ; Friend, it is a sacred cause — 'Tis the bringing to a people Christian light and love and laws. Gentl© Patrick, the Apostle, Brought no flaming battle brand ; In his heart of peace the gospel, , j And a shamrock in his hand. • These the weapons that he wielded, Ireland bowed to Heaven's sway ; Who'd object but brutish bigot If we celebrate his day.

VIII. Far I've left my mother country, . \: Made this fair young land my bride ; • Both I'll ever love and cherish, And defend whate'er betide. From her cliffs let Erin beckon, And I hasten to her aid ; Let a caitiff strike Columbia — From its scabbard leaps the blade. Ha 1 I note your eyes approval ! With my motives you agree ; Come then, brave and free Columbian, Come and celebrate with me. New York, March 15, 1880.