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EXPEDITION AND DEATH OF KING DATHY, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: King dathy assembled his druids and sages
Last Line: Tell this tale of long-gone ages


King Dathy assembled his Druids and Sages ,
And thus he spake them:-"Druids and Sages!
What of King Dathy?
What is revealed in Destiny's pages
Of him or his? Hath he
Aught for the Future to dread or to dree?
Good to rejoice in, or Evil to flee?
Is he a foe of the Gall
Fitted to conquer, or fated to fall?"


And Beirdra, the Druid, made answer as thus-
A priest of a hundred years was he:-
"Dathy! thy fate is not hidden from us!
Hear it through me!
Thou shalt work thine own will!
Thou shalt slay-thou shalt prey-
And be Conqueror still!
Thee the Earth shall not harm!
Thee we charter and charm
From all evil and ill;
Thee the laurel shall crown!
Thee the wave shall not drown!
Thee the chain shall not bind!
Thee the spear shall not find!
Thee the sword shall not slay!
Thee the shaft shall not pierce!
Thou, therefore, be fearless and fierce,
And sail with thy warriors away
To the lands of the Gall,
There to slaughter and sway,
And be Victor o'er all!"


So Dathy he sailed away, away,
Over the deep resounding sea;
Sailed with his hosts in armour grey
Over the deep resounding sea,
Many a night and many a day,
And many an islet conquered he-
He and his hosts in armour grey.
And the billow drowned him not,
And a fetter bound him not,
And the blue spear found him not,
And the red sword slew him not,
And the swift shaft knew him not,
And the foe o'erthrew him not.
Till, one bright morn, at the base
Of the Alps, in rich Ausonia's regions,
His men stood marshalled face to face
With the mighty Roman legions.
Noble foes!
Christian and heathen stood there among those,
Resolute all to overcome,
Or die for the Eagles of Ancient Rome!


When, behold! from a temple anear
Came forth an aged priest-like man,
Of a countenance meek and clear.
Who, turning to Eire's Ceann,
Spake him as thus:-"King Dathy! hear!
Thee would I warn!
Retreat! retire! Repent in time
The invader's crime.
Or better for thee thou hadst never been born!"
But Dathy replied: "False Nazarene!
Dost thou, then, menace Dathy, thou?
And dreamest thou that he will bow
To one unknown, to one so mean,
So powerless as a priest must be?
He scorns alike thy threats and thee!
On! on, my men, to victory!"


And with loud shouts for Eire's king,
The Irish rush to meet the foe,
And falchions clash and bucklers ring-
When, lo!
Lo! a mighty earthquake's shock!
And the cleft plains reel and rock;
Clouds of darkness pall the skies;
Thunder crashes,
Lightning flashes,
And in an instant Dathy lies
On the earth a mass of blackened ashes!
Then, mournfully and dolefully
The Irish warriors sailed away
Over the deep resounding sea,
Till, wearily and mournfully,
They anchored in Eblana's Bay.
Thus the Seanachies and Sages
Tell this tale of long-gone ages.






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