Poem Which Accompanied The Planting Of A Tree Of Liberty On Vinegar Hill, July 2nd, 1989

Anthony Cronin

Far from the eaves and spires of brilliant Paris, Unpinioned now, half eagle and half dove,
In strengthening circles soared the miraculous bird. And everywhere the people raised their eyes
To widening skies where soon the bird might be. Those bowed and bent in labour
Watched for its shadow on the waving com, Spoke in the patois of the poor of hopes Cherished, unrealised through mastered ages But fiercely lived through now in every parish. Over the bright May meadows soared the bird High in the Wexford sky; the baronies
Of Forth and Bargy, Shelburne, Shelmalier, Saw it enhaloed for a moment, lost it
In all the welter of hot history's day,
The dire confusions of the actual.
On Vinegar Hill above the pleasant Slaney A tree is planted now to which the bird Dovelike descends. a bird of freedom rest Forever on our hills, our parishes,
Let Liberty for which all pay such price Be native to our fields as those of France
And all the lands where men and women wait An end of servitude see brightening skies, See circles widen where the bird may come For whom our world is insufficient home.