Lines Written on a Seat on the Grand Canal, Dublin
‘Erected to the Memory of Mrs Dermot O’Brien’
O commemorate me where there is water, Canal water preferably, so stilly Greeny at the heart of summer. Brother Commemorate me thus beautifully Where by a lock Niagarously roars
The falls for those who sit in the tremendous silence Of mid-July. No one will speak in prose A swan goes by head low with many apologies, Fantastic light looks through the eyes of bridges –
And look! a barge comes bringing from Athy O commemorate me with no hero-courageous Tomb – just a canal-bank seat for the passer-by.
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[10]
GLOSSARY
[1] commemorate: celebrate and pay tribute to [2] stilly: quiet ly, with little movement [5] Niagarously: sounds like the Niagara Falls
GLOSSARY
[8] Parnassian: Parnassus is a mountain in Greece, sacred to the Muses, the nine goddesses who inspired poets and artists