Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Ireland: Vol. V. 1876–79. | | | | Appendix: Arraglen | | Kate of Arraglen | | Denny Lane |
| | | WHEN first I saw thee, Kate, | |
| That summer evening late, | |
| Down at the orchard gate | |
| Of Arraglen, | |
| I felt I ’d ne’er before | 5 |
| Seen one so fair, asthore, | |
| I feared I ’d never more | |
| See thee again,— | |
| I stopped and gazed at thee, | |
| My footfall luckily | 10 |
| Reached not thy ear, though we | |
| Stood there so near; | |
| While from thy lips a strain, | |
| Soft as the summer rain, | |
| Sad as a lover’s pain, | 15 |
| Fell on my ear. | |
| |
| I ’ve heard the lark in June, | |
| The harp’s wild plaintive tune, | |
| The thrush, that aye too soon | |
| Gives o’er his strain,— | 20 |
| I ’ve heard in hushed delight | |
| The mellow horn at night, | |
| Waking the echoes light | |
| Of wild Loch Lene; | |
| But neither echoing horn, | 25 |
| Nor thrush upon the thorn, | |
| Nor lark at early morn, | |
| Hymning in air, | |
| Nor harper’s lay divine, | |
| E’er witched this heart of mine, | 30 |
| Like that sweet voice of thine, | |
| That evening there. | |
| |
| And when some rustling, dear, | |
| Fell on thy listening ear, | |
| You thought your brother near, | 35 |
| And named his name, | |
| I could not answer, though, | |
| As luck would have it so, | |
| His name and mine, you know, | |
| Were both the same,— | 40 |
| Hearing no answering sound, | |
| You glanced in doubt around, | |
| With timid look, and found | |
| It was not he; | |
| Turning away your head, | 45 |
| And blushing rosy red, | |
| Like a wild fawn you fled | |
| Far, far from me. | |
| |
| The swan upon the lake, | |
| The wild rose in the brake, | 50 |
| The golden clouds that make | |
| The west their throne, | |
| The wild ash by the stream, | |
| The full moon’s silver beam, | |
| The evening star’s soft gleam, | 55 |
| Shining alone, | |
| The lily robed in white, | |
| All, all are fair and bright; | |
| But ne’er on earth was sight | |
| So bright, so fair, | 60 |
| As that one glimpse of thee, | |
| That I caught then, machree, | |
| It stole my heart from me | |
| That evening there. | |
| |
| And now you ’re mine alone, | 65 |
| That heart is all my own,— | |
| That heart that ne’er hath known | |
| A flame before. | |
| That form of mould divine, | |
| That snowy hand of thine, | 70 |
| Those locks of gold, are mine | |
| Forevermore. | |
| Was lover ever seen | |
| As blest as thine, Kathleen? | |
| Hath lover ever been | 75 |
| More fond, more true? | |
| Thine is my every vow! | |
| Forever, dear, as now! | |
| Queen of my heart be thou! | |
| Mo cailin ruadh! 1 | 80 |
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