Poems by Katharine Tynan

All Poems Original Poems Translations

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Indian Summer

This is the sign!

This flooding splendour, golden and hyaline,

This sun a golden sea on hill and plain, --

That God forgets not, that He walks with men.

His smile is on the mountain and the pool

And all the fairy lakes are beautiful.

This is the word!

That makes a thing of flame the water-bird.

125

by Katharine Tynan

The Foggy Dew

A splendid place is London, with golden store,

For them that have the heart and hope and youth galore;

But mournful are its streets to me, I tell you true,

For I'm longing sore for Ireland in the foggy dew.

The sun he shines all day here, so fierce and fine,

With never a wisp of mist at all to dim his shine;

The sun he shines all day here from skies of blue:

He hides his face in Ireland in the foggy dew.

124

by Katharine Tynan

Dead- A Prisoner

He died the loneliest death of all,

Amid his foes he died.

But Someone's leaped the outer wall

And Someone's come inside,

And he has gotten a golden key

To set the lonesome prisoner free.

It was not Peter with the keys,

The heavenly janitor,

123

by Katharine Tynan

The Children of Lir

Out upon the sand-dunes thrive the coarse long grasses;

Herons standing knee-deep in the brackish pool;

Overhead the sunset fire and flame amasses

And the moon to eastward rises pale and cool.

Rose and green around her, silver-gray and pearly,

Chequered with the black rooks flying home to bed;

For, to wake at daybreak, birds must couch them early:

And the day's a long one since the dawn was red.

111

by Katharine Tynan

Of St Francis and the Ass

Our father, ere he went

Out with his brother, Death,

Smiling and well-content

As a bridegroom goeth,

Sweetly forgiveness prayed

From man or beast whom he

Had ever injured

Or burdened needlessly.

142

by Katharine Tynan

Unhousel'd, Unanointed, Unanel'd

When these men must go alone

Sans an absolution,

When their sins are heavy as lead,

Thou Thyself will lift the head ;

Thou, High Priest, wilt whisper low,

Te Absolvo! ere they go.

When there is no sacrifice,

Bread and Wine for Thy disguise,

133

by Katharine Tynan

Old Song Re-Sung

I saw three ships a-sailing,

A-sailing on the sea,

The first her masts were silver,

Her hull was ivory.

The snows came drifting softly,

And lined her white as wool;

Oh, Jesus, Son of Mary,

Thy Cradle beautiful!

125

by Katharine Tynan

The Nurse

Such innocent companionship

Is hers, whether she wake or sleep,

'Tis scarcely strange her face should wear

The young child's grave and innocent air.

All the night long she hath by her

The quiet breathing, the soft stir,

Nor knows how in that tender place

The children's angels veil the face.

131

by Katharine Tynan

Autumnal

THE Autumn leaves are dying quietly,

Scarlet and orange, underfoot they lie;

They had their youth and prime

And now's the dying time;

Alas, alas, the young, the beloved, must die!

They are dying like the leaves of Autumn fast,

Scattered and broken, blown on every blast:

The darling young, the brave,

116

by Katharine Tynan

The Doves

The house where I was born,

Where I was young and gay,

Grows old amid its corn,

Amid its scented hay.

Moan of the cushat dove,

In silence rich and deep;

The old head I love

Nods to its quiet sleep.

105

by Katharine Tynan

The Legend of St Austin and the Child

St. Austin, going in thought

Along the sea-sands gray,

Into another world was caught,

And Carthage far away.

He saw the City of God

Hang in the saffron sky;

And this was holy ground he trod,

Where mortals come not nigh.

117

by Katharine Tynan

St Francis and the Birds

Little sisters, the birds:

We must praise God, you and I

You, with songs that fill the sky,

I, with halting words.

All things tell His praise,

Woods and waters thereof sing,

Summer, Winter, Autumn, Spring,

And the night and days.

141

by Katharine Tynan