O’connell, Hibernæ Liberator Ad Limina Apostolorum Pergens Genoæ Obdormivit: Poem by Lady Jane Wilde

Crowned with a liberated people’s love,
Crowned by the Nations with eternal fame,
His great heart burning still with patriot‐fire,
Tho’ Death’s pale shadow rested on his brow,
Forth went the mighty Chief from his loved Land,
’Mid the hushed reverence paid to dying Kings,
On his last pilgrimage; yearning to find rest
For the o’erwearied hero‐heart and brain,
After great trials pass’d and triumphs won,
Within the Temple‐City of the World.
But, faint with combats of a glorious life,
Tho’ Freedom’s hymns still murmured on his lips,
And his dim eyes still tracked the western Sun
Would rise on Ireland, but no more for him,
Seeking the gates of God’s great Church on earth,
He found the gates of Heaven, and entered in

There Angels met him with the conqueror’s Palm,
And passing from the portal to the Throne,
Circled with golden glitter of their wings,
God crowned him Victor for his work well done!

Analysis of this poem