Classic Poem

I.

I WAS walking along in a pleasant place,
In the country Tipperary;
The scene smiled as happy as the holy face
Of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
And the trees were proud, and the sward was green,
And the birds sang loud in the leafy scene.

II.

Yet somehow I felt strange, and soon I felt sao,
And then I felt very lonely;
I pondered in vain why I was not glad,
In a place meant for pleasure only:
For I thought that grief had never been there,
And that sin would as lief to heaven repair.

III.

And a train of spirits seemed passing me by,
The air grew as heavy as lead;
I looked for a cabin, yet none could I spy
In the pastures about me spread;
Yet each field seemed made for a peasant's cot,
And I felt dismayed when I saw them not.

IV.

As I stayed on the field, I saw — Oh, my God!
The marks where a cabin had been:
Through the midst of the fields, some feet of the sod
Were coarser and far less green,
And three or four trees in the centre stood,
But they seemed to freeze in their solitude.

V.

Surely there was the road that led to the cot,
For it ends just beneath the trees,
And the trees like mourners are watching the spot,
And cronauning with the breeze;
And their stems are bare with children's play,
But the children — where, oh! where are they?

VI.

An old man unnoticed had come to my side,
His hand in my arm linking —
A reverend man, without haste or pride —
And he said: — " I know what you're thinking;
" A cabin stood once underneath the trees,
" Full of kindly ones — but alas! for these!

VII.

" A loving old couple, and tho' somewhat poor,
" Their children had leisure to play;
" And the piper, and stranger, and beggar were sure
" To bless them in going away;
" But the typhus came, and the agent too —
" Ah! need I name the worst of the two?

VIII.

" Their cot was unroofed, yet they strove to hide
" In its walls till the fever was passed;
" Their crime was found out, and the cold ditch side
" Was their hospital at last:
" Slowly they went to poorhouse and grave,
" But the Lord they bent to, their souls will save.

IX.

" And thro' many a field you passed, and will pass,
" In this lordling's " cleared" demesne,
" Where households as happy were once — but, alas
" They too are scattered or slain. "
Then he pressed my hand, and he went away;
I could not stand, so I knelt to pray.

X.

" God of justice! " I sighed, " send your spirit down
" On these lords so cruel and proud,
" And soften their hearts and relax their frown,
" Or else , " I cried aloud —
" Vouchsafe thy strength to the peasant's hand
" To drive them at length from off the land! "