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A CUSHLA GAL MO CHREE (BRIGHT VEIN OF MY HEART), by             Poem Explanation        
First Line: The long, long-wished for hour has come
Last Line: A cuisle gael mo chroidhe!


THE long, long wished-for hour has come,
Yet come astor, in vain;
And left thee but the wailing hum
Of sorrow and of pain;
My light of life, my only love!
Thy portion, sure, must be
Man's scorn below, God's wrath above --
A cuisle geal mo chroidhe!

I've given for thee my early prime,
And manhood's teeming years;
I've blessed thee in my merriest time,
And shed with thee my tears;
And, mother, though thou cast away
The child who'd die for thee,
My fondest wishes still should pray
For cuisle geal mo chroidhe!

For thee I've tracked the mountain's sides,
And slept within the brake,
More lonely than the swan that glides
On Lua's fairy lake.
The rich have spurned me from their door,
Because I'd make thee free;
Yet still I love thee more and more,
A cuisle geal mo chroidhe!

I've run the outlaw's wild career,
And borne his load of ill;
His rocky couch -- his dreamy fear --
With fixed, sustaining will;
And should his last dark chance befall,
Even that shall welcome be;
In death I'd love thee best of all,
A cuisle geal mo chroidhe!

'Twas told of thee the world around,
'Twas hoped for thee by all,
That with one gallant sunward bound
Thou'dst burst long ages' thrall;
Thy faith was tried, alas! and those
Who perilled all for thee
Were cursed and branded as thy foes,
A cuisle geal mo chroidhe!

What fate is thine, unhappy Isle,
When even the trusted few
Would pay thee back with hate and guile,
When most they should be true!
'Twas not my strength or spirit quailed,
Or those who'd die for thee --
Who loved thee truly have not failed,
A cuisle gael mo chroidhe!





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