Classic Poem

Let Erin remember the days of old,
Ere her faithless sons betray'd lier,
When Malachi wore the collar of gold,
Which he won from the proud invader;
When Nial, with standard of green unfurl'd,
Led the red-branch knights to danger,
Ere the emerald gem of the western world
Was set in the brow of a stranger.

On Lough Neagh's banks as the fisherman strays,
When the cool, calm eve's declining,
He sees the round towers of other days
Beneath the waters shining.
So shall memory oft, in dream sublime,
Catch a glimpse of the days that are over,
And, sighing, look through the waves of time,
For the long-faded glories they cover.