XI.
And we came to the Isle of a saint who had sail'd with St. Brendan[51] of yore,
He had lived ever since on the Isle and his winters were fifteen score,
And his voice was low as from other worlds, and his eyes were sweet,
And his white hair sank to his heels and his white beard fell to his feet,
And he spake to me, "O Maeldune, [let be this purpose] of thine!
Remember the words of the Lord when he told us 'Vengeance is mine!'
His fathers have slain thy fathers in war or in single strife,
Thy fathers have slain his fathers, each taken a life for a life,
Thy father had slain his father, how long shall the murder last?
Go back to the Isle of Finn[52] and suffer the Past to be Past."
XII.
And we came to the Isle we were blown from, and there on the shore was he,
The man that had slain my father. I saw him and [let him be].
O weary was I of the travel, the trouble, the strife and the sin,
When I landed again, with of my men, on the Isle of Finn.
XXXVIII.
ST. DONATUS, BISHOP OF FIESOLE. [53]
Part I.
At page [47] of this book it has been related how missionaries and learned men went in great numbers from Ireland to the Continent in the early ages of Christianity to preach the Gospel and to teach in colleges. A full account of the lives and labours of these earnest and holy men would fill several volumes: but the following short sketch of one of them will give the reader a good idea of all.