Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TIR NAN OG, by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TIR NAN OG, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The breeze blows out from the land
Last Line: That burns the heart from my breast with the wish to go!
Subject(s): Relationships; Sailing & Sailors; Sea; Ocean


THE breeze blows out from the land and it seeks the sea,
O and O! that my sail were set and away—
Fast and free on its wings would my sailing be
To the west: to the Tir Nan Og, where the blesséd stay!

The darkness stirs, it awakes, it outspreads its arms,
O and O! and the birds in their nests are still,
The red-browed hill bleats low with the lamb's alarms,
And a sound of singing comes from the slipping rill.

My soul is awake alone, all alone in the earth,
O and O! and around is the lonely night.
As with the sun, would my soul go forth to its birth—
O'er the darkling sea, to the west—to the light, to the light!

Do they say, "Be content with the land of the Innis Fail,
O and O! there is friendship here, there is song."
But they smile to your face, when you turn they stammer and rail
And the song of the singer has tears and Tir Nan Og is over long!

A call comes out of the west and it calls a name,
O and O! it is soft, it is far, it is low—
Sweet, so sweet that it touches my soul with a flame
That burns the heart from my breast with the wish to go!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net