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io8 THE GOLDEN TREASURY OF |
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He who over sands and waves led Israel along — He who fed, with heavenly bread, that chosen tribe
and throng; He who stood by Moses when his foes were fierce and
strong, May he show forth his might in saving Kathaleen
Ny-Houlahan !
KINKORA1
From the Irish of Mac-Liag.
O WHERE, Kinkora ! is Brian the Great, And where is the beauty that once was thine ? O where are the princes and nobles that sate At the feasts in thy halls, and drank the red wine ? Where, O Kinkora ?
O where, Kinkora 1 are thy valorous lords ?
O whither, thou hospitable ! are they gone ?
O where are the Dalcassians of the golden swords ? *
And where are the warriors Brian led on ?
Where, O Kinkora?
1 This poem is ascribed to Mac-Liag, the secretary of Brian Boruimha, who fell at the battle of Clontarf, in 1014; and the subject of it is a lamentation for the fallen condition of Kinkora, the palace of that monarch, consequent on his death. The decease of Mac-Liag is recorded in the " Annals of the Four Masters," as having taken place in 1015. A great number of his poems are still in existence, but none of them has obtained a popularity so widely extended as his " Lament." The palace of Kinkora, which was situated on the banks of the Shannon, near Killaloe, is now a heap of ruins.
2 Colg n-or, or the swords of gold, i. e., of the gold-hilted swords. |
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