by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)
Remember the glories of Brien the brave
Language: English
Remember the glories of Brien the brave, Though the days of the hero are o’er; Though lost to Mononia, and cold in the grave, He returns to Kinkora no more. That star of the field, which so often [hath poured]1 Its beam on the battle, is set; But enough of its glory remains on each sword To light us to victory yet. Mononia! when Nature embellished the tint Of thy fields, and thy mountains so fair, Did she ever intend that a tyrant should print The footstep of slavery there? No! Freedom, whose smile we shall never resign, Go, tell our invaders, the Danes, That ’t is sweeter to bleed for an age at thy shrine, Than to sleep but a moment in chains. Forget not our wounded companions, who stood In the day of distress by our side; While the moss of the valley grew red with their blood, They stirred not, but conquered and died. That sun which now blesses our arms with his light Saw them fall upon Ossory’s plain; — O, let him not blush, when he leaves us to-night, To find that they fell there in vain.
V. Herbert sets stanza 1
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes, ed. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., 1876–79; Bartleby.com, 2011. www.bartleby.com/270/2/92.html
1 Herbert: "has pour'd"Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "Munster. Remember the Glories of Brien the Brave" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Victor Herbert (1859 - 1924), "Remember the glories of Brien the Brave", first performed 1908, stanza 1 [voice and piano], from the collection The Bards of Ireland, no. 2. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2016-03-28
Line count: 24
Word count: 192