Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Background details and bibliographic information
The Bird and the Fly
Author: Patrick Augustine Sheehan
File Description
Electronic edition compiled by Benjamin Hazard
Funded by School of History, University College, Cork and
Private donation
1. First draft
Extent of text: 760 words
Publication
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork
College Road, Cork, Ireland http://www.ucc.ie/celt (2014) Distributed by CELT online at University College, Cork, Ireland.
Text ID Number: E900012-003
Availability [RESTRICTED]
Available with prior consent of the CELT programme for purposes of academic research and teaching only.
Sources
Manuscript- [Details to follow].
Canon Sheehan on the Internet- http://www.canonsheehanremembered.com.
Edition- Canon P.A. Sheehan, 'The Bird and the Fly,' The Irish Monthly, 28/326 (August 1900) 482483.
Literature- Herman Joseph Heuser, Canon Sheehan of Doneraile: the story of an Irish parish priest as told chiefly by himself in books, personal memoirs, and letters (New York 1917).
- Arthur Coussens. P. A. Sheehan, zijn leven en zijn werken (Brugge/Bruges 1923).
- Michael P. Linehan, Canon Sheehan of Doneraile: Priest, Novelist, Man of Letters (Dublin 1952).
- James O'Brien (ed.), The Collected Letters of Canon Sheehan of Doneraile, 18831913 (Wells 2013).
- James O'Brien, Canon Sheehan of Doneraile 18521913: Outlines for a Literary Biography (Wells 2013). [Bibliographical references 205-11.]
The edition used in the digital edition- , The Bird and the Fly in The Irish Monthly: A Magazine of General Literature, Ed. Matthew Russell SJ. , Dublin, Irish Jesuit Province (August 1900) volume 28number 326page 482483
Encoding
Project Description
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
Sampling Declaration
The electronic text represents the edited version.
Editorial Declaration
Correction
Text has been checked and proof-read once.
Normalization
The electronic text represents the edited text.
Quotation
There are no quotations.
Hyphenation
Soft hyphens are silently removed. When a hyphenated word (hard or soft) crosses a page-break or line-break, the page-break and line-break are marked after the completion of the hyphenated word.
Segmentation
div0 = the poem. Metrical lines, line-breaks and stanzas are marked and numbered.
Standard Values
There are no dates.
Interpretation
Names of persons and places are not tagged.
Profile Description
Created: By Patrick Augustine Sheehan (18521913)
(1900)
Use of language
Language: [EN] The text is in English.
Revision History
Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition: E900012-003
The Bird and the Fly: Author: Patrick Augustine Sheehan
p.482
- I saw a speck on my window pane
Last night 'gainst the leaden sky;
My windows were swept by bullets of rain,
As the storm went sullenly by.
- Was it a fly on the window-pane?
Was it a bird in the sky,
Straining wet wings 'gainst the pitiless rain,
As the storm rushed sweltering by?
- It was a fly on my window-pane,
Happy, and warm, and dry;
Counting the silvery drops of rain,
As they hissed from the angry sky.
- It was a bird on the stormy blast,
Plunged in despair to try
Could he reach a refuge, till death had passed
On the hurricane thundering by.
- And I said; Alas! for my little bird!
And I said: O happy fly!
Sheltered and safe from perils unheard,
And the moods of a winter sky.
- Then sudden, a spider leaped from his nest,
And wrapped the enchanted fly
In fold and fold to his pitiless breast,
Without struggle, or plaint, or cry.
- And the storm went wailing around the world,
And here on a branch close by,
My bird sat chirping, with pinions furled,
And the clouds soared clear and high.
p.483
- And I said: O my soul! were it better for thee
Here in thy haven to lie,
Than out in the stress of the stormy lea,
Battling for victory?
- There is peril at home; there is dread abroad;
And a bolt from the bluest sky:
Now, take thy chance, and trust in thy God;
He is wiser and stronger than I. P.A. SHEEHAN