ST. SENANUS AND THE LADY. AIR-The Brown Thorn. ST. SENANUS1. "OH! haste and leave this sacred isle, A female form I see; And I have sworn the sainted sod Shall ne'er by woman's feet be trod." 1 In a metrical life of St. Senanus, which is taken from an old Kilkenney MS. and may be found among the Acta Sanctorum Hiberniæ, we are told of his flight to the island of Scattery, and his resolution not to admit any woman of the party; he refused to receive even a sister saint, St. Cannera, whom an angel had taken to the island, for the express purpose of introducing her to him. The following was the ungracious answer of Senanus, according to his poetical biographer :— Cui Præsul, quid fœminis Commune est cum monachis, THE LADY. "Oh! Father send not hence my bark The Lady's prayer Senanus spurn'd, Nec te nec ullam aliam Admittemus in insulam. See the Acta Sanct. Hib. Page 610. According to Dr. Ledwich, St. Senanus was no less a personage than the river Shannon; but O'Connor, and other antiquarians, deny this metamorphosis indignantly. HOW DEAR TO ME THE HOUR WHEN DAYLIGHT DIES. AIR-The Twisting of the Rope. How dear to me the hour when daylight dies, And as I watch the hue of light that plays Along the smooth wave tow'rd the burning west, I long to tread that golden path of rays, And think 'twould lead to some bright isle of rest! TAKE BACK THE VIRGIN PAGE. (WRITTEN ON RETURNING A BLANK BOOK.) AIR-Dermot. TAKE back the virgin page White and unwritten still: Thoughts come as pure as light, Love turns to fire. Yet let me keep the book; Oft shall my heart renew, Dear thoughts of you; Like you it's fair and bright; Haply, when from those eyes Worthy those eyes to meet; Thoughts that not burn, but shine, Pure calm and sweet! And as the records are, Which wand'ring seamen keep, Led by the hidden star So Through winter's deep; may the words I write Tell through what storms I stray, You still the unseen light Guiding my way! |