Ireland, born again

Ireland, land of sorrowful lament
Green isle in a dark stormy sea
Ancient mystical Eire of Celtic culture
Poet, priest and passion abide here
Civilization among heathen cultures
in the green lush pastures,
Celtic crosses and tall round towers
Religion, ritual and revelry
Christianity, catholicism, tradition
Land of nurture and new birth
Rebels, writers, musicians
Famine, pestilence, poverty
Starvation and emigration
A legacy of a cruel crusade
A million dead, a nation vanquished
Suffering soulfulness among
the sour peat bogs
Untold misery and despair
Uprisen again, now a
new sense, born of untold suffering
Land of music, ballad
and dance, Celtic revival
Reborn in youthful creativity
Across the world, its suffering
spread, Celtic phoenix
New cultures, new traditions
But all the while
the ancient culture, in new
forms, revived
Risen from the fires of pestilence
and famine
Ireland, born again

March 7, 1998
Michael David Coffey

Eriu: a princess of the legendary Tuatha De Dannan
who gave her name to the island of Ireland.
Design by Jim Fitzpatrick, 1976.