Illustrated Favourite Poems

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Contents Introduction I Will Go with My Father

9 10

Joseph Campbell (1879–1944)

A Noble Boy

12 14 16 18 20 22 24

Katharine Tynan (1861–1931)

Hy-Brazil – the Isle of the Blest

26 28

Padraic Colum (1881–1972)

Sea-fever

46

I Remember, I Remember

48

A Boy’s Song

50

The Village Blacksmith

52

Barbara Frietchie

54

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92)

30

A Psalm of Life

56

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82)

32

Patrick H. Pearse (1879–1916)

The Old Woman of the Roads

44

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82)

Gerald Griffin (1803–40)

The Wayfarer

from The Deserted Village

James Hogg (1770–1835)

Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918)

Sheep and Lambs

42

Thomas Hood (1799–1845)

John Keats (1795–1821)

Trees

The March to Kinsale

John Masefield (1878–1967)

Joseph Mary Plunkett (1887–1916)

To Autumn

40

Oliver Goldsmith (1728–74)

Cecil Frances Alexander (1818–95)

The Presence of God

The Burial of Sir John Moore

Aubrey de Vere (1814–1902)

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94)

All Things Bright and Beautiful

38

Charles Wolfe (1791–1823)

William Allingham (1824–89)

Farewell to the Farm

Lament for Thomas MacDonagh Francis Ledwidge (1891–1917)

Padraic Colum (1881–1972)

Four Ducks on a Pond

36

J. M. Synge (1871–1909)

Mary Dow Brine (fl. 1878)

A Cradle Song

Nature’s Child

My Shadow

58

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94)

34

Leisure

William H. Davies (1871–1940)

60

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Contents The Daffodils

62

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

Signs of Rain

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94)

68 70

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

Casabianca

72

Felicia Hemans (1794–1835)

Lochinvar

74

Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832)

She is Far from the Land

76

Thomas Moore (1799–1852)

The Wreck of the Hesperus

78

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82)

The Listeners

80

Walter de la Mare (1873–1956)

Little Boy Blue

82

Eugene Field (1850–95)

Break, Break, Break

84

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809–92)

Young and Old Charles Kingsley (1819–75)

90

66

Thomas Campbell (1777–1844)

Lucy Gray

Requiem

Thomas Gray (1716–71)

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809–92)

Lord Ullin’s Daughter

88

64

Edward Jenner (1749–1823)

The Brook

from Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

86

Crossing the Bar

92

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809–92)

An Gleann ’Nar Tógadh Mé

94

Dúghlás de Híde (1860–1949)

Bean tSléibhe ag Caoineadh a Mic

96

Pádraig Mac Piarais (1879–1916)

Tháinig Long ó Valparaiso

98

Pádraig de Brún (1889–1960)

Anseo i Lár an Ghleanna

100

Seán Mac Fheorais (1915–84)

Cúl an Tí

102

Seán Ó Ríordáin (1917–77)

A Dhroimeann Donn Dílis

104

Ón mbéaloideas

Labhair an Teanga Ghaeilge

105

Ní fios cé a chum

Cill Aodáin

106

Introduction It is twenty years since I first collected The Illustrated Favourite Poems We Learned in School. These collections continue to be enjoyed by thousands of readers both here in Ireland and abroad.

The success of these collections of old school poems has borne out my belief that most of us really like poetry and that we especially like to remember the powerful, haunting and musical lines from the days of our childhood when we first encountered them in school and committed them to memory.

Little did we realise then that there would come a time when we would treasure these old school poems, when we would mourn their passing out of reach and regret the fact that we had all but forgotten them, except, perhaps, for a fragment of a line.

We should never underestimate the emotive and nostalgic power of poetry, how it can echo in the memory and carry us back to the days of innocence and wonder. I have received many letters from people all over the world telling me how much they enjoyed those abiding gems from their old schoolbooks.

A photograph is a bit like an old poem; it captures a flicker of life and stirs the emotions: it conquers time in a moment. The beautiful photographs in this volume carry us back, like the old poems, to our schooldays - when we lived in a very different world. They are photographs of the children we were, the places we lived in, the countryside and streets we knew before time moved on.

Antaine Ó Reachtaire (1784–1835)

Biographical Notes Index of Poets Index of Titles Index of First Lines

Thomas F. Walsh

108 115 116 117 9

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I Will Go with My Father I will go with my father a-ploughing To the green field by the sea, And the rooks and the crows and the seagulls Will come flocking after me.

I will sing to the patient horses With the lark in the white of the air, And my father will sing the plough-song That blesses the cleaving share.

I will go with my father a-sowing To the red field by the sea, And the rooks and the gulls and the starlings Will come flocking after me.

I will sing to the striding sowers With the finch on the flowering sloe, And my father will sing the seed-song That only the wise men know.

I will go with my father a-reaping To the brown field by the sea, And the geese and the crows and the children Will come flocking after me.

I will sing to the weary reapers With the wren in the heat of the sun, And my father will sing the scythe-song That joys for the harvest done.

Joseph Campbell (1879–1944) 10

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A Noble Boy The woman was old, and feeble, and grey, And bent with the chill of the winter’s day; The street was wet with the recent snow, And the woman’s feet were weary and slow.

She stood at the crossing, and waited long, Alone, uncared for, amid the throng.

Down the street, with laughter and shout, Glad in the freedom of ‘school let out’, Came the boys, like a flock of sheep; Hailing the snow, piled white and deep.

Past the woman, so old and grey, Hastened the children on their way, Nor offered a helping hand to her, So meek, so timid, afraid to stir.

At last came one of the merry troop – The gayest boy of all the group; He paused beside her, and whispered low, ‘I’ll help you across if you wish to go’; He guided the trembling feet along, Proud, that his own were firm and strong.

Then back again to his friends, he went, His young heart happy, and well content, ‘She is somebody’s mother, boys, you know, Although she is old, and poor and slow.

And I hope some fellow will lend a hand To help my mother – you understand – If e’er she be poor, and old and grey, When her own dear boy is far away.’

And ‘somebody’s mother’ bowed low her head, In her home that night, and the prayer she said Was, ‘God be kind to the noble boy, Who is somebody’s son, and pride, and joy.’

Mary Dow Brine (fl. 1878)

12

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A Cradle Song O men from the fields!

Come gently within.

Tread softly, softly, O men coming in.

Mavourneen is going From me and from you, Where Mary will fold him With mantle of blue!

From reek of the smoke And cold of the floor, And the peering of things Across the half-door.

O men from the fields!

Soft, softly come thro’.

Mary puts round him Her mantle of blue.

Padraic Colum (1881–1972)

14

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Four Ducks on a Pond Four ducks on a pond, A grass-bank beyond, A blue sky of spring, White clouds on the wing: What a little thing To remember for years – To remember with tears!

William Allingham (1824–89)

16

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Index of Titles A Boy’s Song A Cradle Song A Dhroimeann Donn Dílis A Noble Boy A Psalm of Life All Things Bright and Beautiful An Gleann ’Nar Tógadh Mé Anseo i Lár an Ghleanna Barbara Frietchie Bean tSléibhe ag Caoineadh a Mic Break, Break, Break Casabianca Cill Aodáin Crossing the Bar Cúl an Tí from Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Four Ducks on a Pond Farewell to the Farm Hy-Brazil – the Isle of the Blest I Remember, I Remember I Will Go with My Father Labhair an Teanga Ghaeilge Lament for Thomas MacDonagh Leisure Little Boy Blue

50 14 104 12 56 20 94 100 54 96 84 72 106 92 102

Lochinvar Lord Ullin’s Daughter Lucy Gray My Shadow Nature’s Child Requiem Sea-fever She is Far from the Land Sheep and Lambs Signs of Rain Tháinig Long ó Valparaiso The Brook The Burial of Sir John Moore The Daffodils from The Deserted Village The Listeners The March to Kinsale The Old Woman of the Roads The Presence of God The Village Blacksmith The Wayfarer The Wreck of the Hesperus To Autumn Trees Young and Old

88 16 18 30 48 10 105 38 60 82 116

Index of First Lines 74 68 70 58 36 90 46 76 28 64 98 66 40 62 44 80 42 34 22 52 32 78 24 26 86

A Chieftain to the Highlands bound A dhroimeann donn dílis, a shíoda na mbó All in the April evening All things bright and beautiful Anois teacht an earraigh beidh an lá ’dul ’un síneadh Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way Bhí an tAifreann léite is gach rud déanta Break, break, break Brón ar an mbás, ’sé dhubh mo chroíse Four ducks on a pond He shall not hear the bittern cry I come from haunts of coot and hern I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky I remember, I remember I see His blood upon the rose ‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller I think that I shall never see I wandered lonely as a cloud 117

68 104 28 20 106 44 100 84 96 16 38 66 58 46 48 22 80 26 62

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Index of First Lines I will go with my father a-ploughing It was the schooner Hesperus Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note O men from the fields Ó ait go háit ba bhreá mo shiúl Ó labhair an teanga Ghaeilge liom O’er many a river bridged with ice O young Lochinvar is come out of the west Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray O to have a little house On the ocean that hollows the rocks where ye dwell Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness She is far from the land where her young hero sleeps Still south I went, and west, and south again Sunset and evening star Tá Tír na nÓg ar chúl an tí Tell me not, in mournful numbers Tháinig long ó Valparaiso The beauty of the world hath made me sad

118

10 78 40 14 94 105 42 74 70 34 30 24

Index of First Lines The boy stood on the burning deck, whence all, but he, had fled The coach is at the door at last The curfew tolls the knell of parting day The hollow winds begin to blow The little toy dog is covered with dust The woman was old, and feeble, and grey Under the spreading chestnut tree Under the wide and starry sky Up from the meadows rich with corn What is this life if, full of care, When all the world is young, lad Where the pools are bright and deep

76 36 92 102 56 98 32

119

72 18 88 64 82 12 52 90 54 60 86 50