Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Padraic Colum (1881–1972). Anthology of Irish Verse. 1922.

By Douglas Hyde

103. Bruadar and Smith and Glinn

BRUADAR and Smith and Glinn,

Amen, dear God, I pray,

May they lie low in waves of woe,

And tortures slow each day!

Amen!

Bruadar and Smith and Glinn

Helpless and cold, I pray,

Amen! I pray, O king,

To see them pine away.

Amen!

Bruadar and Smith and Glinn

May flails of sorrow flay!

Cause for lamenting, snares and cares

Be theirs by night and day!

Amen!

Blindness come down on Smith,

Palsy on Bruadar come,

Amen, O King of Brightness! Smite

Glinn in his members numb,

Amen!

Smith in the pangs of pain,

Stumbling on Bruadar’s path,

King of the Elements, Oh, Amen!

Let loose on Glinn Thy Wrath.

Amen!

For Bruadar gape the grave,

Up-shovel for Smith the mould,

Amen, O King of the Sunday! Leave

Glinn in the devil’s hold.

Amen!

Terrors on Bruadar rain,

And pain upon pain on Glinn,

Amen, O King of the Stars! And Smith

May the devil be linking him.

Amen!

Glinn in a shaking ague,

Cancer on Bruadar’s tongue,

Amen, O King of the Heavens! and Smith

Forever stricken dumb.

Amen!

Thirst but no drink for Glinn,

Smith in a cloud of grief,

Amen! O King of the Saints; and rout

Bruadar without relief.

Amen!

Smith without child or heir,

And Bruadar bare of store,

Amen, O King of the Friday! Tear

For Glinn his black heart’s core.

Amen!

Bruadar with nerveless limbs,

Hemp strangling Glinn’s last breath,

Amen, O King of the World’s Light!

And Smith in grips with death.

Amen!

Glinn stiffening for the tomb,

Smith wasting to decay,

Amen, O King of the Thunder’s gloom,

And Bruadar sick alway.

Amen!

Smith like a sieve of holes,

Bruadar with throat decay,

Amen, O king of the Orders! Glinn

A buck-show every day.

Amen!

Hell-hounds to hunt for Smith,

Glinn led to hang on high,

Amen, O King of the Judgment Day!

And Bruadar rotting by.

Amen!

Curses on Glinn, I cry,

My curse on Bruadar be,

Amen, O king of the Heavens high!

Let Smith in bondage be.

Amen!

Showers of want and blame,

Reproach, and shame of face,

Smite them all three, and smite again,

Amen, O King of Grace!

Amen!

Melt, may the three, away,

Bruadar and Smith and Glinn,

Fall in a swift and sure decay

And lose, but never win.

Amen!

May pangs pass through thee, Smith,

(Let the wind not take my prayer),

May I see before the year is out

Thy heart’s blood flowing there.

Amen!

Leave Smith no place nor land,

Let Bruadar wander wide,

May the Devil stand at Glinn’s right hand,

And Glinn to him be tied.

Amen!

All ill from every airt

Come down upon the three,

And blast them ere the year be out

In rout and misery.

Amen!

Glinn let misfortune bruise,

Bruadar lose blood and brains,

Amen, O Jesus! hear my voice,

Let Smith be bent in chains.

Amen!

I accuse both Glinn and Bruadar,

And Smith I accuse to God,

May a breach and a gap be upon the three,

And the Lord’s avenging rod.

Amen!

Each one of the wicked three

Who raised against me their hand,

May fire from heaven come down and slay

This day their perjured band,

Amen!

May none of their race survive,

May God destroy them all,

Each curse of the psalms in the holy books

Of the prophets upon them fall.

Amen!

Blight skull, and ear, and skin,

And hearing, and voice, and sight,

Amen! before the year be out,

Blight, Son of the Virgin, blight.

Amen!

May my curses hot and red

And all I have said this day,

Strike the Black Peeler, too,

Amen, dear God, I pray!

Amen!