Thine was the voice that cheer’d the brave and free;
They had their hills, their chainless hearts, and thee.
Those were dark years!—They saw the valiant fall,
The rank weeds gathering round the chieftain’s board,
The hearth left lonely in the ruin’d hall—
Yet power was thine—a gift in every chord!
Call back that spirit to the days of peace,
Thou noble harp! thy tones are not to cease!
[158] Hirlas, from hir, long, and glas, blue or azure.
[159] Eryri, the Welsh name for the Snowdon mountains.