Exile of Erin
There came to the beach a poor Exile of Erin,The dew on his thin robe was heavy and chill:For his country he sighed, when at twilight repairingTo wander alone by the wind-beaten hill.But the day-star attracted his eye’s sad devotion,For it rose o’er his own native isle of the ocean,Where once in the fire of his youthful emotion,He sang the bold anthem of “Erin go bragh!”
“Sad is my fate!” said the heart-broken stranger;“The wild deer and wolf to a covert can flee,But I have no refuge from famine and danger,A home and a country remain not to me.Never again, in the green sunny bowers,Where my forefathers lived, shall I spend the sweet hours,Or cover my harp with the wild-woven flowers,And strike to the numbers of ‘Erin go bragh!’
“Erin, my country! though sad and forsaken,In dreams I revisit the sea-beaten shore;But, alas! in a far foreign land I awaken,And sigh for the friends who can meet me no more!Oh cruel fate! wilt thou never replace meIn a mansion of peace—where no perils can chase me?Never again shall my brothers embrace me?They die to defend me, or live to deplore!
“Where is my cabin-door, fast by the wild-wood?Sisters and sire! did ye weep for its fall?Where is the mother that looked on my childhood?And where is the bosom-friend, dearer than all?Oh! my sad heart! long abandoned by pleasure,Why did it doat on a fast-fading treasure?Tears, like the rain-drop, may fall without measure,But rapture and beauty they cannot recall.
“Yet all its sad recollections suppressing,One dying wish my lone bosom can draw:Erin! an exile bequeaths thee his blessing!Land of my forefathers! ‘Erin go bragh!’Buried and cold, when my heart stills her motion,Green be thy fields,—sweetest isle of the ocean!And thy harp-striking bards sing aloud with devotion,—Erin mavournin—Erin go bragh!’”
Words in this poem 15
- erin n.
- An early, and now a poetic, name of Ireland. [Ir. Cf. Aryan.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- anthem v. t.
- To celebrate with anthems.
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- revisit v. t.
- To visit again.
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- deplore v. t.
- To feel or to express deep and poignant grief for; to bewail; to lament; to mourn; to sorrow over. [L. deplorare; de- + plorare to cry out, wail, lament; prob. akin to pluere to rain, and to E. flow: cf. F. déplorer. Cf. Flow.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- mavournin n.
- My darling; -- an Irish term of endearment for a girl or woman.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Exile of Erin is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, Project Gutenberg ebook #59788; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Campbell, Exile of Erin, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/exile-of-erin.html, id L24434.
Form and metre
Exile of Erin is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCCCB, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-ABBB- erin · chillA · repairing · hillA · devotionB · oceanB · emotionB · bragh
- 2 ABABCCC- strangerA · fleeB · dangerA · meB · bowersC · hoursC · flowersC · bragh
- 3 ABABCCCB forsakenA · shoreB · awakenA · moreB · meC · meC · meC · deploreB
- 4 ABABCCCB woodA · fallB · childhoodA · allB · pleasureC · treasureC · measureC · recallB
- 5 A-ABCCCB suppressingA · draw · blessingA · braghB · motionC · oceanC · devotionC · braghB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| There came to the beach a poor Exile of Erin, | 12 | ·······/··/˘ |
| The dew on his thin robe was heavy and chill: | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| For his country he sighed, when at twilight repairing | 13 | ··/˘····/·˘/˘ |
| To wander alone by the wind-beaten hill. | 11 | ·/˘˘/···/˘· |
| But the day-star attracted his eye’s sad devotion, | 13 | ····˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| For it rose o’er his own native isle of the ocean, | 12 | ······/˘···/ |
| Where once in the fire of his youthful emotion, | 12 | ····/··/˘˘/˘ |
| He sang the bold anthem of “Erin go bragh!” | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| “Sad is my fate!” said the heart-broken stranger; | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| “The wild deer and wolf to a covert can flee, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| But I have no refuge from famine and danger, | 12 | ····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| A home and a country remain not to me. | 11 | ····/˘˘/··· |
| Never again, in the green sunny bowers, | 11 | /˘˘/···/˘/˘ |
| Where my forefathers lived, shall I spend the sweet hours, | 12 | ··/·˘······/ |
| Or cover my harp with the wild-woven flowers, | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘/ |
| And strike to the numbers of ‘Erin go bragh!’ | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| “Erin, my country! though sad and forsaken, | 11 | /˘·/˘···˘/˘ |
| In dreams I revisit the sea-beaten shore; | 11 | ···˘/˘··/˘· |
| But, alas! in a far foreign land I awaken, | 13 | ·˘/···/˘··˘/˘ |
| And sigh for the friends who can meet me no more! | 11 | ··········· |
| Oh cruel fate! wilt thou never replace me | 10 | ·/···/˘·/· |
| In a mansion of peace—where no perils can chase me? | 13 | ··/˘····/˘··· |
| Never again shall my brothers embrace me? | 10 | /˘/··/˘˘/· |
| They die to defend me, or live to deplore! | 11 | ···˘/····˘/ |
| “Where is my cabin-door, fast by the wild-wood? | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Sisters and sire! did ye weep for its fall? | 10 | /˘·/······ |
| Where is the mother that looked on my childhood? | 11 | ···/˘····/· |
| And where is the bosom-friend, dearer than all? | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Oh! my sad heart! long abandoned by pleasure, | 11 | ·····˘/˘·/˘ |
| Why did it doat on a fast-fading treasure? | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Tears, like the rain-drop, may fall without measure, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| But rapture and beauty they cannot recall. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘/· |
| “Yet all its sad recollections suppressing, | 11 | ·····˘/˘˘/˘ |
| One dying wish my lone bosom can draw: | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| Erin! an exile bequeaths thee his blessing! | 11 | /˘·/·˘/··/˘ |
| Land of my forefathers! ‘Erin go bragh!’ | 10 | ···/·˘/˘·· |
| Buried and cold, when my heart stills her motion, | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| Green be thy fields,—sweetest isle of the ocean! | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| And thy harp-striking bards sing aloud with devotion,— | 13 | ···/˘··˘/·˘/˘ |
| Erin mavournin—Erin go bragh!’” | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
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