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TO C. G. DUFFY.
Not simply, Duffy, for thy kindly heart,
Thy boundless love for all thy kith and kin—
The Irish people—dost thou greatly win
Our best esteem. Nor for that higher part
Of mind in thee, so good, so large, so strong—
The poet's genius and the poet's skill.
With war, philosophy, and love to fill
The finished poem and the flowing song;
Though deemed good merits these, a higher yet
Begets thy fame. In thee we most behold
One more of those, with dauntless soul and bold
Who 'twixt their nation and the wronger set
The firm breast and brow—from Brian down
To him the Chief of Peace whose name bespeaks renown.
