Irish Guards
(Coolmela)
In countless ranks about my house —
In uniforms of shadowed black
Or sunlit green, or arid tones
Of brittle brown — my tall guards stand.
No eye can take in at one view
All of their Companies formed up
In ordered squares along the hills —
From feet to crests and down again
The other sides and to each flank
As far as eyes can see — they line
Approaches to my whitewashed home.
Close all about my residence,
In neat formations smartly dressed,
They wait my proud inspection; save
Only at my doors, for there they
Keep respectful distance, that I
May not feel too much overlooked
By their enduring watchfulness.
Today, as on most others, I
Reviewed my stalwart Irish Guards
Starting, of course, at Right of Line
And then proceeding through the ranks,
(Where gorse-bright golden standards dipped
Down to black earth at my approach
In Custom’s time-honoured salute),
Along the pathways spaced between
The Regiments assembled there.
At intervals I came across,
(Amid the tall, upstanding ranks
Of hardy veterans), small squads
Of new recruits and slightly more
Mature cadets formed up in lines
As straight and regular as those
Of the more senior élites.
(How lucky are the families,
How fortunate the land, indeed,
Whose sons and daughters are prepared
Willingly to assume the rôles
Of those whom age, or illness cause
To lay responsibilities
Aside at last, reluctantly;
Especially where this concerns
The safety and prosperity
Of country and inheritance,
Of family, religion and
The culture of their history.
Hence, I was more than pleased to see
So many youngsters on Parade
As guarantors of future strength).
It was a long day in the sun
And some, I saw, had fallen down
From being still so long; it took
Me three full hours to get around
The huge parade; and even then
I did not see them all. (But they
Knew I had tried and so forgave
My failure, for they understood
How great the task I’d set myself
To honour their protective lines).
There were few mascots on Parade;
I saw no fox nor badger there;
No goat, no deer, no rat nor mouse;
No squirrel nor pine-marten was
In view; no stoat nor weasel wild;
No eagle, hawk nor bird of prey
Adorned the regimented lines.
(Only a band of small birds piped
Light airs with Irish sympathies
Underlaid). Two or three rabbits
And half-a-dozen hares made up
The total sum of creatures there,
Cheekily playing around the feet
Of their immobile guardians.
(Sandy and Gemma, my escorts
Throughout the long parade today,
Soon chased those disrespectful beasts
Back into line as thoroughly
As only Labradorans can!).
I should encourage mascots more —
Especially of the larger kinds —
As they would add much interest —
Whilst boosting Regiments’ morale
Both off and on formal Parades —
When I review my Irish Guards.
How proud I felt as I admired
My splendid troops’ fine panoply
And how their colours symbolised
The nature of their Irishness;
Black for for the mountains, bald and tall
And black for the beds of rivers,
Black for the forests under clouds
And black, pall black, for Irish moods.
Green for the fields and sunlit trees,
For hedgerows and for riverbanks,
For pastures and for Irish eyes.
Brown for the ploughed fields full of seeds
Waiting to germinate and yield
Their future bounties of fresh foods;
Brown for bracken and fallen leaves
In Autumn’s seasonal displays
Of pyrotechnical effects.
Gold for wide cornfields ripening
Under the old gold Irish sun;
Gold for wild gorse upon the hills
Or glowing in the forest glades;
And gold to symbolise the wealth
Of Irish culture’s heritage.
These are the colours of Ireland
And the colours of Irish hearts.
In countless ranks about my home
My Irish Guards protectively
Stand watch in their bold uniforms
Of shadowed black and arid brown,
With sunbright greens and gold aiguillets
To counterpoint those sombrer tones.
These forest symbols help reveal
The majesty that can pervade
The Irish and their lovely land
When troubled times are out of mind.
I am more than content to be
Here, at Coolmela with my Guards,
As I devote myself to write
My poetry and so fulfil
My life’s ambitious dream to make
Works that will shake the world awake!.
