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Hapless nation, hapless land,
Heap of uncementing sand!
Crumbled by a foreign weight,
Or by worse, domestic hate!

— William Drennan The Wake of William Orr (1797)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Fugitive Pieces, in Verse and Prose (1815), p. 80

More quotes by William Drennan

Arm of Erin, prove strong, but be gentle as brave,
And, uplifted to strike, still be ready to save;
Nor one feeling of vengeance presume to defile
The cause or the men of the Emerald Isle.

Erin (1795)

Men of Erin! awake, and make haste to be blest!
Rise! arch of the ocean, and queen of the West!

Erin (1795)

When Erin first rose from the dark-swelling flood,
God blessed the green island, he saw it was good.
The Emerald of Europe, it sparkled and shone
In the ring of this world, the most precious stone.

Erin (1795)

Pure, just, benign; thus filial love would trace
The virtues hallowing this narrow space;
The Emerald Isle may grant a wider claim,
And link the Patriot with his country's name.

All William Drennan quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Drennan (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.