Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Ireland: Vol. V. 1876–79. | | | | Tor Conainn | | The Legends | | Aubrey Thomas de Vere (1814–1902) |
| | | THEY fought ere sunrise at Tor Conainn; | |
| All day they fought on the wild sea-shore. | |
| The sun dropped downward, they fought amain; | |
| The tide rose upward, they fought the more. | |
| The sands were covered; the sea grew red; | 5 |
| The warriors fought in the reddening wave: | |
| That night the sea was the sea-king’s bed; | |
| The land-king drifted past cliff and cave. | |
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| Great was the rage in those ancient days | |
| (We were pagans then) in the land of Eire; | 10 |
| Like eagles men vanquished the noontide blaze; | |
| Their bones were iron, their nerves were wire. | |
| We are hinds to-day! The Nemedian kings | |
| Like elk and bison of old stalked forth; | |
| Their name—the sea-kings’—forever clings | 15 |
| To the “Giant Stepping-Stones” round the North. | | | | |
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