OURSELVES ALONE.

New Zealand Tablet, 23 September 1920, Page 11

OURSELVES ALONE.

;: :.V ; '.:y- 'O:.- (SLIABH CUILINN.) :---' : The ■: work • that k .should, to-day be ) wrought^ Defer not;; till to-morrow; •" .}■**■ «/'*". The help i that: should within be sought, . - Scorn from without to borrow. Old maxims- theseyet stout and true ;; They speak in trumpet tone, - To do at once what is to do, -■: . And trust OURSELVES ALONE. --, ■* Too long our Irish hearts we schooled ...-'.. : In patient hope to bide, ',','■. By dreams of English justice" fooled And English tongues that lied. That hour of weak delusion's past The empty dream has flown: Our hope and strength, we find at last, Is in OURSELVES ALONE. Aye bitter hate, or cold neglect, Or lukewarm love, at best, Is all we've found, or can expect, We Aliens of the West. No friend, beyond our own green shore, Can Erin truly own Yet stronger is her trust, therefore, lii her brave sons ALONE. Remember, when our lot was worse Sunk, trampled to the dust—- " Twas long our weakness and our curse In stranger aid to trust. And if, at length, we proudly trod On bigot laws o'erthrown, Who won that struggle? Under God, Ourselves—OURSELVES ALONE. Oh ! let its memory be enshrined . ■ In Ireland's heart for ever! It proves a banded people's mind . Must win in just endeavor; " It shows how wicked to despair, How weak to idly groan— If ills .at others' hands ye bear, The cure is in YOUR OWN, The foolish word "impossible" At once, for aye, disdain; No power can bar a people's will, A people's right to gain. Be bold, united, firmly set, Nor flinch in word or tone— We'll be a glorious nation yet, REDEEMED—ERECT— !