Laurel · Eleanor Hull · The Poem-Book of the Gael

Buried in San Pietro Montorio at Rome

Eleanor Hull (1860–1935) · 1912

iambic tetrameter · 134 lines · from The Poem-Book of the Gael

Addressed to Nuala, the O'Donnell's sister, by Owen Roe mac an Bhaird(or Ward), the family Bard, in 1608-9.

O woman of the piercing wail,Who mournest o'er yon mound of clayWith sigh and groan,Would God thou wert among the Gael!Thou would'st not then from day to dayWeep thus alone.'Twere long before around a graveIn green Tyrconnel, one could findThis loneliness;Near where Beann-Boirche's banners wave,Such grief as thine could ne'er have pinedCompanionless.

Beside the wave in Donegal,In Antrim's glens, or fair Dromore,Or Killilee,Or where the sunny waters fallAt Assaroe, near Erna shore,This could not be.On Derry's plains, in rich Drumcliff,Throughout Armagh the Great, renownedIn olden years,No day could pass but woman's griefWould rain upon the burial-groundFresh floods of tears!

O no!--From Shannon, Boyne, and Suir,From high Dunluce's castle-walls,From Lissadill,Would flock alike both rich and poor:One wail would rise from Cruachan's hallsTo Tara hill;And some would come from Barrow-side,And many a maid would leave her homeOn Leitrim's plains,And by melodious Banna's tide,And by the Mourne and Erne, to comeAnd swell thy strains!

Oh, horses' hoofs would trample downThe mount whereon the martyr-saintWas crucified;From glen and hill, from plain and town,One loud lament, one thrilling plaint,Would echo wide.There would not soon be found, I ween,One foot of ground among those bandsFor museful thought,So many shriekers of the keenWould cry aloud, and clap their hands,All woe-distraught!

Two princes of the line of ConnSleep in their cells of clay besideO'Donnell Roe:Three royal youths, alas! are gone,Who lived for Erin's weal, but diedFor Erin's woe.Ah, could the men of Ireland readThe names those noteless burial-stonesDisplay to view,Their wounded hearts afresh would bleed,Their tears gush forth again, their groansResound anew!

The youths whose relics moulder hereWere sprung from Hugh, high prince and lordOf Aileach's lands;Thy noble brothers, justly dear,Thy nephew, long to be deploredBy Ulster's bands.Theirs were not souls wherein dull timeCould domicile decay, or houseDecrepitude!They passed from earth ere manhood's prime,Ere years had power to dim their brows,Or chill their blood.

And who can marvel o'er thy grief,Or who can blame thy flowing tears,Who knows their source?O'Donnell, Dunnasava's chief,Cut off amid his vernal years,Lies here a corseBeside his brother Cathbar, whomTyrconnell of the Helmets mournsIn deep despair:For valour, truth, and comely bloom,For all that greatens and adorns,A peerless pair.

Oh, had these twain, and he, the third,The Lord of Mourne, O'Niall's son(Their mate in death,A prince in look, in deed, and word),Had these three heroes yielded onThe field their breath,Oh, had they fallen on Criffan's plain,There would not be a town or clanFrom shore to sea,But would with shrieks bewail the slain,Or chant aloud the exulting rannOf jubilee!

What do I say? Ah, woe is me!Already we bewail in vainTheir fatal fall!And Erin, once the great and free,Now vainly mourns her breakless chain,And iron thrall.Then, daughter of O'Donnell, dryThine overflowing eyes, and turnThy heart aside,For Adam's race is born to die,And sternly the sepulchral urnMocks human pride.

Look not, nor sigh, for earthly throne,Nor place thy trust in arm of clay,But on thy kneesUplift thy soul to God alone,For all things go their destined wayAs He decrees.Embrace the faithful crucifix,And seek the path of pain and prayerThy Saviour trod;Nor let thy spirit intermixWith earthly hope, with worldly care,Its groans to God!

And Thou, O mighty Lord! whose waysAre far above our feeble mindsTo understand,Sustain us in these doleful days,And render light the chain that bindsOur fallen land!

Look down upon our dreary state,And thro' the ages that may stillRoll sadly on,Watch Thou o'er hapless Erin's fate,And shield at least from darker illThe blood of Conn!

Words in this poem 33

gael n.: A Celt or the Celts of the Scotch Highlands or of Ireland; now esp., a Scotch Highlander of Celtic origin. [See Gaelic.]
loneliness n.: The condition of being lonely; solitude; seclusion.
companionless a.: Without a companion.
sunny a.: Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
olden a.: Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
burial n.: A grave; a tomb; a place of sepulture. [OE. buriel, buriels, grave, tomb, AS. byrgels, fr. byrgan to bury, and akin to OS. burgisli sepulcher.]
mourne n.: The armed or feruled end of a staff; in a sheephook, the end of the staff to which the hook is attached. Sir P. Sidney. [See 2d Morne.]
erne n.: A sea eagle, esp. the European white-tailed sea eagle (Haliæetus albicilla). [AS. earn eagle; akin to D. arend, OHG. aro, G. aar, Icel., Sw., & Dan. örn, Goth. ara, and to Gr. Ornithology.]
whereon adv.: On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
thrilling a.: Causing a thrill; causing tremulous excitement; deeply moving; as, a thrilling romance.
plaint n.: Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint; hence, a mournful song; a lament. Chaucer."The Psalmist's mournful plaint." [OE. plainte, pleynte, F. plainte, fr. L. plangere, planctum (plancta, fem. p.p.), to beat, beat the breast, lament. Cf. Complain, Plague, Plangent.]
ween v. i.: To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
museful a.: Meditative; thoughtfully silent.
aloud adv.: With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
noteless a.: Not attracting notice; not conspicuous.
afresh adv.: Anew; again; once more; newly. [Pref. a- + fresh.]
moulder n.: One who, or that which, molds or forms into shape; specifically (Founding), one skilled in the art of making molds for castings.
nephew n.: A grandson or grandchild, or remoter lineal descendant. [OE. neveu, nevou, nevu, fr. F. neveu, OF. also, nevou, L. nepos; akin to AS. nefa, D. neef, G. neffe, OHG. nevo, Icel. nefi a kinsman, gr. nepat grandson, desce]
domicile n.: An abode or mansion; a place of permanent residence, either of an individual or a family. [L. domicilium; domus house + (prob.) root of celare to conceal: cf. F. domicile. See Dome, and Conceal.]
decrepitude n.: The broken state produced by decay and the infirmities of age; infirm old age. [Cf. F. décrépitude.]
amid prep.: In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
corse n.: A living body or its bulk. [OF. cors, F. corps. See Corpse.]
twain a.: Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
exulting a.: Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
rann n.: Open robbery. Lambarde. [As. ran.]
erin n.: An early, and now a poetic, name of Ireland. [Ir. Cf. Aryan.]
sternly adv.: In a stern manner.
uplift v. t.: To lift or raise aloft; to raise; to elevate; as, to uplift the arm; to uplift a rock.
crucifix n.: A representation in art of the figure of Christ upon the cross; esp., the sculptured figure affixed to a real cross of wood, ivory, metal, or the like, used by the Roman Catholics in their devotions. [F. crucifix or LL. crucifixum, fr. L. crux, crucis, cross + figere, fixum, to fix. See Cross, and Fix, and cf. Crucify.]
saviour n.: One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
dreary a.: Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
sadly adv.: Wearily; heavily; firmly.
hapless a.: Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Buried in San Pietro Montorio at Rome is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poem-Book of the Gael Translations from Irish Gaelic Poetry into English Prose and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #46917; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Eleanor Hull, Buried in San Pietro Montorio at Rome, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/buried-in-san-pietro-montorio-at-rome.html, id L11716.

Form and metre

Buried in San Pietro Montorio at Rome is 134 lines in 13 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABCABCDEFDEF, in 5 of the 13 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in iambic tetrameter.

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.

2 ABCABCDEFDEF wail^A · clay^B · groan^C · gael^A · day^B · alone^C · grave^D · find^E · loneliness^F · wave^D · pined^E · companionless^F
3 ABCABC-DE-DE donegal^A · dromore^B · killilee^C · fall^A · shore^B · be^C · drumcliff · renowned^D · years^E · grief · ground^D · tears^E
4 -AB-ABCDECDE suir · walls^A · lissadill^B · poor · halls^A · hill^B · side^C · home^D · plains^E · tide^C · come^D · strains^E
5 ABCABCDEFDEF down^A · saint^B · crucified^C · town^A · plaint^B · wide^C · ween^D · bands^E · thought^F · keen^D · hands^E · distraught^F
6 -AB-ABCDECDE conn · beside^A · roe^B · gone · died^A · woe^B · read^C · stones^D · view^E · bleed^C · groans^D · anew^E
7 ABCABCD--D-- here^A · lord^B · lands^C · dear^A · deplored^B · bands^C · time^D · house · decrepitude · prime^D · brows · blood
8 ABCABCDEFDEF grief^A · tears^B · source^C · chief^A · years^B · corse^C · whom^D · mourns^E · despair^F · bloom^D · adorns^E · pair^F
9 A-BA-BCDECDE third^A · son · death^B · word^A · on · breath^B · plain^C · clan^D · sea^E · slain^C · rann^D · jubilee^E
10 ABCABCDEFDEF me^A · vain^B · fall^C · free^A · chain^B · thrall^C · dry^D · turn^E · aside^F · die^D · urn^E · pride^F
11 ABCABCDEFDEF throne^A · clay^B · knees^C · alone^A · way^B · decrees^C · crucifix^D · prayer^E · trod^F · intermix^D · care^E · god^F
12 ABCABC ways^A · minds^B · understand^C · days^A · binds^B · land^C
13 ABCABC state^A · still^B · on^C · fate^A · ill^B · conn^C

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 tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Addressed to Nuala, the O'Donnell's sister, by Owen Roe mac an Bhaird	19	˘/·˘/˘·˘/˘/˘·/˘····
(or Ward), the family Bard, in 1608-9.	8	···/˘˘··
O woman of the piercing wail,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Who mournest o'er yon mound of clay	8	·/˘·····
With sigh and groan,	4	····
Would God thou wert among the Gael!	8	········
Thou would'st not then from day to day	8	········
Weep thus alone.	4	··˘/
'Twere long before around a grave	8	········
In green Tyrconnel, one could find	8	········
This loneliness;	4	·/˘˘
Near where Beann-Boirche's banners wave,	8	·····/˘·
Such grief as thine could ne'er have pined	8	········
Companionless.	4	˘/˘˘
Beside the wave in Donegal,	8	˘/······
In Antrim's glens, or fair Dromore,	8	·/˘·····
Or Killilee,	4	····
Or where the sunny waters fall	8	···/˘/˘·
At Assaroe, near Erna shore,	8	·····/˘·
This could not be.	4	····
On Derry's plains, in rich Drumcliff,	8	·/˘·····
Throughout Armagh the Great, renowned	8	······˘/
In olden years,	4	·/˘·
No day could pass but woman's grief	8	·····/˘·
Would rain upon the burial-ground	8	·····/˘·
Fresh floods of tears!	4	····
O no!--From Shannon, Boyne, and Suir,	8	···/˘···
From high Dunluce's castle-walls,	8	·····/˘·
From Lissadill,	4	····
Would flock alike both rich and poor:	8	··˘/····
One wail would rise from Cruachan's halls	8	········
To Tara hill;	4	·/˘·
And some would come from Barrow-side,	8	·····/˘·
And many a maid would leave her home	8	·/······
On Leitrim's plains,	4	····
And by melodious Banna's tide,	8	··˘/˘···
And by the Mourne and Erne, to come	8	········
And swell thy strains!	4	····
Oh, horses' hoofs would trample down	8	·/˘··/˘·
The mount whereon the martyr-saint	8	··˘/·/˘·
Was crucified;	4	·/˘·
From glen and hill, from plain and town,	8	········
One loud lament, one thrilling plaint,	8	··˘/·/˘·
Would echo wide.	4	·/˘·
There would not soon be found, I ween,	8	········
One foot of ground among those bands	8	········
For museful thought,	4	·/˘·
So many shriekers of the keen	8	·/˘·····
Would cry aloud, and clap their hands,	8	··˘/····
All woe-distraught!	4	··˘/
Two princes of the line of Conn	8	·/˘·····
Sleep in their cells of clay beside	8	······˘/
O'Donnell Roe:	4	˘/˘·
Three royal youths, alas! are gone,	8	·/˘·˘/··
Who lived for Erin's weal, but died	8	···/˘···
For Erin's woe.	4	·/˘·
Ah, could the men of Ireland read	8	·····/˘·
The names those noteless burial-stones	8	···/˘/˘·
Display to view,	4	˘/··
Their wounded hearts afresh would bleed,	8	·/˘·˘/··
Their tears gush forth again, their groans	8	····˘/··
Resound anew!	4	·/˘/
The youths whose relics moulder here	8	···/˘/˘·
Were sprung from Hugh, high prince and lord	8	········
Of Aileach's lands;	4	····
Thy noble brothers, justly dear,	8	·/˘/˘/˘·
Thy nephew, long to be deplored	8	·/˘···˘/
By Ulster's bands.	4	·/˘·
Theirs were not souls wherein dull time	8	········
Could domicile decay, or house	8	·/˘˘˘/··
Decrepitude!	4	˘/˘˘
They passed from earth ere manhood's prime,	8	·····/··
Ere years had power to dim their brows,	8	···/····
Or chill their blood.	4	····
And who can marvel o'er thy grief,	8	···/˘···
Or who can blame thy flowing tears,	8	·····/˘·
Who knows their source?	4	····
O'Donnell, Dunnasava's chief,	8	˘/˘·····
Cut off amid his vernal years,	8	··˘/·/˘·
Lies here a corse	4	····
Beside his brother Cathbar, whom	8	˘/·/˘···
Tyrconnell of the Helmets mourns	8	·····/˘·
In deep despair:	4	··˘/
For valour, truth, and comely bloom,	8	·/˘··/˘·
For all that greatens and adorns,	8	······˘/
A peerless pair.	4	·/˘·
Oh, had these twain, and he, the third,	8	········
The Lord of Mourne, O'Niall's son	7	·······
(Their mate in death,	4	····
A prince in look, in deed, and word),	8	········
Had these three heroes yielded on	8	···/˘/˘·
The field their breath,	4	····
Oh, had they fallen on Criffan's plain,	9	···/˘····
There would not be a town or clan	8	········
From shore to sea,	4	····
But would with shrieks bewail the slain,	8	····˘/··
Or chant aloud the exulting rann	9	··˘/·˘/˘·
Of jubilee!	4	·/˘·
What do I say? Ah, woe is me!	8	········
Already we bewail in vain	8	˘/˘·˘/··
Their fatal fall!	4	·/˘·
And Erin, once the great and free,	8	·/˘·····
Now vainly mourns her breakless chain,	8	·/˘·····
And iron thrall.	4	·/˘·
Then, daughter of O'Donnell, dry	8	·/˘·˘/˘·
Thine overflowing eyes, and turn	8	·/˘·˘···
Thy heart aside,	4	··˘/
For Adam's race is born to die,	8	·/˘·····
And sternly the sepulchral urn	8	·/˘·˘/˘·
Mocks human pride.	4	·/˘·
Look not, nor sigh, for earthly throne,	8	·····/˘·
Nor place thy trust in arm of clay,	8	········
But on thy knees	4	····
Uplift thy soul to God alone,	8	/˘····˘/
For all things go their destined way	8	·····/˘·
As He decrees.	4	··˘/
Embrace the faithful crucifix,	8	˘/·/˘/˘·
And seek the path of pain and prayer	8	········
Thy Saviour trod;	4	·/˘·
Nor let thy spirit intermix	8	···/˘·˘/
With earthly hope, with worldly care,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Its groans to God!	4	····
And Thou, O mighty Lord! whose ways	8	···/˘···
Are far above our feeble minds	8	····//˘·
To understand,	4	··˘/
Sustain us in these doleful days,	8	˘/···/˘·
And render light the chain that binds	8	·/˘·····
Our fallen land!	5	/˘/˘·
Look down upon our dreary state,	8	····//˘·
And thro' the ages that may still	8	···/˘···
Roll sadly on,	4	·/˘·
Watch Thou o'er hapless Erin's fate,	8	···/˘/˘·
And shield at least from darker ill	8	·····/˘·
The blood of Conn!	4	····

Notes from the edition 1

Eleanor Hull's notes to The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912; Project Gutenberg #46917).

Stanza 11, line 12 The literal translation of this stanza runs as follows:-- "For God's sake, thy weighty sorrow banish away, O daughter of O'Donnell! Short time till thou in self-same guise must tread the way; the same path's weariness awaits thee. In hand of clay put not thy trust.... Think on the cross that stands beside thee, and, in lieu of thy vain sorrowing, from off the sepulchre lift up thine arm and bid thy grief begone." O'Grady's Cat. of MSS. in the Brit. Mus., pp. 372-73.

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

More by Eleanor Hull

The Poem-Book of the Gael