THE ISLE OF SAINTS.
“Primus ordo sanctissimus; secundus ordo sanctior; tertius sanctus. Primus sicut sol ardescit; secundus sicut luna; tertius sicut stellæ.”—See the ancient catalogue of the three classes of Irish saints, as published by Usher and Lanigan.
There lived to Erin’s hallowed borders,
In days of yore, three saintly Orders.
And first, the simply HOLY:—They
Shed like the stars a flickering ray.
The second—HOLIER—poured a light
Moon-like, subdued and calmly bright.
The third, or HOLIEST of all,
Shone like the sun—or like Saint Paul.
But, oh, the state of man’s unrest
In good!—the last were first and best.
The middle but a term between
The purest and the least serene;
Less than the greatest—greater far
Than those whose emblem is the star.
Waning they ran a downward race,
With fainter faith and lessening grace,
Till, reaching to the stage most lowly,
The least and latest were the Holy.
Oh, that they there had staid!—that sin
Had, to this swept and garnished inn
Returning, found the entrance barred,
And Faith still keeping watch and ward!—
Alas!—they slept in Ease’s bower;
They could not “watch one little hour.”
The stars their ineffectual light
In slumber sealed. The thief by night
Entered; and o’er the rich domain
Sowed tares among the better grain.
Sin flourished;—poverty and strife
Embittered all the charms of life;
And passion, with unbounded sway,
Swept sun and moon and stars away.
And yet not ever such, sweet Isle,
Shall be thy fate. The stars shall smile
Again upon thy valleys green,
Again the moon shall beam serene
Upon thy mountains; and the bright
Celestial sun clothe thee with light,
With plenty bless, and warm and cheer
Thy long-delayed millenial year.
Even now the sacred morning dawns,
The clouds are fleeting from thy lawns;
And, as light thickens in the sky,
Lo! Riot and Intemperance fly;
And chaste sobriety imparts
Her cup, and Industry his arts.
Peace, Love, and Holiness once more
Row their sweet ark towards thy shore;
And Heaven renews the favouring smile
That made thee once the Saintly Isle.