Ellen O'Leary (1831-1889). Songs and Ballads. II. "The Dead Who Died for Ireland". Alfred H. Miles, ed. 1907. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century

Alfred H. Miles, ed. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.

Songs and Ballads.
II. “The Dead Who Died for Ireland”

By Ellen O’Leary (1831–1889)


THE DEAD who died for Ireland;
Let not their memory die,
But solemn and bright, like stars at night,
Be they throned for aye on high.

The dead who died for Ireland;	5
The noble, gallant Three,
Whose last fond prayer on the gallows’ stair
Was for Ireland’s liberty.

The dead who died for Ireland!
In the lonely prison cell;	10
Far, far apart from each kindred heart;
Of their death-pangs none can tell.

The dead who died for Ireland!
In exile—poor—in pain;
Dreaming sweet dreams of the hills and streams	15
They never should see again.

The dead who died for Ireland!
Let not their memory die,
But solemn and bright, like stars at night,
Be they throned for aye on high.	20