To Meath of the pastures,
From wet hills by the sea,
Through Leitrim and Longford
Go my cattle and me.
I hear in the darkness
Their slipping and breathing.
I name them the bye-ways
They’re to pass without heeding.
Then the wet, winding roads,
Brown bogs with black water;
And my thoughts on white ships
And the King o’ Spain’s daughter.
O! farmer, strong farmer!
You can spend at the fair
But your face you must turn
To your crops and your care.
And soldiers—red soldiers!
You’ve seen many lands;
But you walk two by two,
And by captain’s commands.
O! the smell of the beasts,
The wet wind in the morn;
And the proud and hard earth
Never broken for corn;
And the crowds at the fair,
The herds loosened and blind,
Loud words and dark faces
And the wild blood behind.
(O! strong men with your best
I would strive breast to breast
I could quiet your herds
With my words, with my words.)
I will bring you, my kine,
Where there’s grass to the knee;
But you’ll think of scant croppings
Harsh with salt of the sea.
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Comments
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Yet again another great write by Colum! His poems have so much feeling in them, I think I was almost sorry for the soldiers who had no control over what they wanted to see or wherer they wanted to go. Sometimes I wish I could talk to Colum and ask him face to face what it was that inspired this poem and what he was thinking when he wrote it. And the farmer, oh what a life of the farmer, with the smelly animals he goes early in the morning. Colum has a gift with giving such vivid imagery. The pictures within my mind takes me to a whole new world in the early morning hours with a quiet old man walking through the mudd. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
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Great imagery. A wonderful read. Very well written, great work!
Sam
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