Cathleen Ni Houlihan

Maud Gonne as Cathleen Ni Houlihan
Maud Gonne as Cathleen Ni Houlihan

by W.B. Yeats and Augusta Gregory

Excerpted from “Cathleen Ni Houlihan”

It is a hard service they take that help me. Many that are red-cheeked now will be pale-cheeked; many that have been free to walk the hills and the bogs and the rushes will be sent to walk hard streets in far countries; many a good plan will be broken; many that have gathered money will not stay to spend it; many a child will be born, and there will be no father at its christening to give it a name. They that had red cheeks will have pale cheeks for my sake; and for all that, they will think they are well paid.

They shall be remembered for ever, They shall be alive for ever, They shall be speaking for ever, The people shall hear them for ever.

Original Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26144/26144-h/26144-h.htm#cathleen

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.