II.

II.

The Geraldines! the Geraldines!--'tis true, in Strongbow's van, By lawless force, as conquerors, their Irish reign began; And, oh! through many a dark campaign they proved their prowess stern, In Leinster's plains and Munster's vales on king and chief and kerne; But noble was the cheer within the halls so rudely won, And generous was the steel-gloved hand that had such slaughter done; How gay their laugh, how proud their mien, you'd ask no herald's sign-- Among a thousand you had known the princely Geraldine.

III.

These Geraldines! these Geraldines!--not long our air they breathed; Not long they fed on venison, in Irish water seethed; Not often had their children been by Irish mothers nursed; When from their full and genial hearts an Irish feeling burst! The English monarchs strove in vain, by law and force and bribe, To win from Irish thoughts and ways this "more than Irish" tribe; For still they clung to fosterage, to _breitheamh_[53], cloak, and bard: What king dare say to Geraldine, "your Irish wife discard?"