Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Denis Florence MacCarthy 1817–82

The Irish Wolf-Hound

AS fly the shadows o’er the grass,

He flies with step as light and sure,

He hunts the wolf through Tostan pass,

And starts the deer by Lisanoure.

The music of the Sabbath bells,

O Con! has not a sweeter sound

Than when along the valley swells

The cry of John Mac Donnell’s hound.

His stature tall, his body long,

His back like night, his breast like snow,

His fore-leg pillar-like and strong,

His hind-leg like a bended bow;

Rough curling hair, head long and thin,

His ear a leaf so small and round;

Not Bran, the favorite dog of Fin,

Could rival John Mac Donnell’s hound.