| Padraic Colum (1881–1972). Anthology of Irish Verse. 1922. |
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| 181. Slainthe! |
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| By Patrick MacGill |
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| I SPEAK with a proud tongue of the people who were | |
| And the people who are, | |
| The worthy of Ardara, the Rosses and Inishkeel, | |
| My kindred— | |
| The people of the hills and the dark-haired passes | 5 |
| My neighbours on the lift of the brae, | |
| In the lap of the valley. | |
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| To them Slainthe! | |
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| I speak of the old men, | |
| The wrinkle-rutted, | 10 |
| Who dodder about foot-weary— | |
| For their day is as the day that has been and is no more— | |
| Who warm their feet by the fire, | |
| And recall memories of the times that are gone; | |
| Who kneel in the lamplight and pray | 15 |
| For the peace that has been theirs— | |
| And who beat one dry-veined hand against another | |
| Even in the sun— | |
| For the coldness of death is on them. | |
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| I speak of the old women | 20 |
| Who danced to yesterday’s fiddle | |
| And dance no longer. | |
| They sit in a quiet place and dream | |
| And see visions | |
| Of what is to come, | 25 |
| Of their issue, | |
| Which has blossomed to manhood and womanhood— | |
| And seeing thus | |
| They are happy | |
| For the day that was leaves no regrets, | 30 |
| And peace is theirs, | |
| And perfection. | |
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| I speak of the strong men | |
| Who shoulder their burdens in the hot day, | |
| Who stand in the market place | 35 |
| And bargain in loud voices, | |
| Showing their stock to the world. | |
| Straight the glance of their eyes— | |
| Broad-shouldered, | |
| Supple. | 40 |
| Under their feet the holms blossom, | |
| The harvest yields. | |
| And their path is of prosperity. | |
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| I speak of the women, | |
| Strong-hipped, full-bosomed, | 45 |
| Who drive the cattle to graze at dawn, | |
| Who milk the cows at dusk. | |
| Grace in their homes, | |
| And in the crowded ways | |
| Modest and seemly— | 50 |
| Mother of children! | |
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| I speak of the children | |
| Of the many townlands, | |
| Blossoms of the Bogland, | |
| Flowers of the Valley, | 55 |
| Who know not yesterday, nor to-morrow, | |
| And are happy, | |
| The pride of those who have begot them. | |
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| And thus it is, | |
| Ever and always, | 60 |
| And Ardara, the Rosses and Inishkeel— | |
| Here, as elsewhere, | |
| The Weak, the Strong, and the Blossoming— | |
| And thus my kindred. | |
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| To them Slainthe. | 65 |
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