Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Poems by William Allingham (Author: William Allingham)
poem 18
The Abbot of Inisfallen
- The Abbot of Inisfalen
Awoke ere dawn of day;
Under the dewy green leaves
Went he forth to pray.
- The lake around his island
Lay smooth and dark and deep,
And wrapt in misty stillness
The mountains were all asleep.
- Low kneel'd the Abbot Cormac,
When the dawn was dim and gray;
The prayers of his holy office
He faithfully 'gan say.
- Low kneel'd the Abbot Cormac,
When the dawn was waxing red;
And for his sins forgiveness
A solemn prayer he said:
- Low kneel'd that holy Abbot,
When the dawn was waxing clear;
And he pray'd with loving kindness
For his convent-brethren dear.
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- Low kneel'd that blessed Abbot,
When the dawn was waxing bright;
He pray'd a great prayer for Ireland,
He pray'd with all his might.
- Low kneel'd that good old Father,
While the sun began to dart;
He pray'd a prayer for all mankind,
He pray'd it from his heart.
- The Abbot of Inisfalen
Arose upon his feet;
He heard a small bird singing,
And O but it sung sweet!
- He heard a white bird singing well
Within a holly-tree;
A song so sweet and happy
Never before heard he.
- It sung upon a hazel,
It sung upon a thorn;
He had never heard such music
Since the hour that he was born.
- It sung upon a sycamore,
It sung upon a briar;
To follow the song and hearken
This Abbot could never tire.
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- Till at last he well bethought him;
He might no longer stay;
So he bless'd the little white singing-bird,
And gladly went his way.
- But, when he came to his Abbey walls,
He found a wondrous change;
he saw no friendly faces there,
For every face was strange.
- The strange men spoke unto him;
And he heard from all and each
The foreign tongue of the Sassenach,
Not wholesome Irish speech.
- Then the oldest monk came forward
In Irish tongue spake he:
'Thou wearest the holy Augustine's dress,
And who hath given it to thee?'
- I wear the holy Augustine's dress,
And Cormac is my name
The Abbot of this good Abbey
By grace of God I am.
- 'I went forth to pray, at the dawn of day;
And when my prayers were said,
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I hearken'd awhile to a little bird,
That sung above my head.'
- The monk to him made answer,
'Two hundred yeas have gone o'er,
Since our Abbot Cormac went through the gate,
And never was heard of more.'
- 'Matthias now is our Abbot,
And twenty have pass'd away.
The stranger is lord of Ireland;
We live in an evil day.'
- 'Now give me absolution;
For my time is come,' said he.
And they gave him absolution,
As speeddily as might be.
- Then, close outside the window,
The sweetest song they heard
That ever yet since the world began
Was utter'd by any bird.
- The monks looked out and saw the bird,
Its feathers all white and clean;
And there in a moment beside it,
Another white bird was seen.
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- Those two they sang together,
Waved their white wings and fled:
Flew aloft, and vanish'd;
But the good old man was dead.
- They buried his blessed body
Where lake and greensward meet;
A carven cross abovehis head,
A holly-bush at his feet.
- Where spreads the beautiful water
To gay or cloudy skies,
And the purple peaks of Killarney
From ancient woods arise.
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