A NATION'S TEST.
143
Justice lives, though judgment lingers—angels' feet are heavy shod—
But a planet's years are moments in th' eternal day of God!
IV.
Out from the valley of death and tears,
From the war and want of a thousand years,
From the mark of sword and the rust of chain,
From the smoke and blood of the penal laws,
The Irish men and the Irish cause
Come out in the front of the field again!
What says the stranger to such a vitality?
What says the statesman to this nationality?
Flung on the shore of a sea of defeat.
Hardly the swimmers have sprung to their feet.
When the nations are thrilled by a clarion-word.
And Burke, the philosopher-statesman, is heard.
