Excerpt from The Sorrows of Ireland

After ages of service and pain,
with her mark on the world and her failure at home,
in the door of the Empire we have Erin still doubting,
the smile looking out and the tear looking in,
from a retrospect rare in its beauty
of bravery, hope and romance,
still distrusting herself and distrusted for that,
making fetters of freedom, and crimes of caprice,
esteemed for her follies and cursed by her virtues,
while nursing her vices, unaware of her strength.

Will she ever come in? - She can never go out,
and her destiny rests in destruction or friendship,
the choice leaving no room for doubt
I could lie to her lovingly, trade on her tenderly,
market her anguish, and live on her cheers,
but I tell her the truth and I ask her for nothing,
unless to live on and serve her as truly
as she has served all but her own

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