From “They are Five,” by W. E. G., 1877.
In the thirtieth of the Poem Competitions in “The World,” two prizes were offered for poems on “Ireland’s Distress,” the model selected being Campbell’s “Exile of Erin.” The first prize was gained by Captain Walford (Kommitop); the second by Miss Chamberlayne (Hypophosphate.) The Poems were printed in “The World” March 3, 1880.
Ireland’s Distress.
I saw in a dream the sad angel of Erin;
Her green robe hung loosely, so withered her form;
For her country she sighed, as though almost despairing,
Of shelter and rest from the pitiless storm.
Though the day-star of Hope, rising fair o’er the ocean,
Shone bright on the mist of her eye’s sad devotion;
Yet scarcely her lips, in their trembling emotion,