A GREAT IRISH STORY. 1848.

Del Boy

Active member
Here’s a great true story.

In October 1848 William Smith O’Brien was sentenced to death for leading a rebellion in Tipperary. On October 8, 1848, after sentence and just before he was to hang, he wrote this poem:-



NEVER DESPAIR by William Smith O’Brien.


Never Despair! Let the feeble in spirit
Bow like the willow that stoops on the blast
Droop not in the peril! ‘Tis manhood’s true merit
Nobly to struggle and hope to the last.


When the sunshine of fortune forsaken
Faint sinks the heart of the feeble with fear,
Stand like the oak of the forest – unshaken
Never despair – Boys – oh! Never despair.


Never despair! Though adversity rages,
Fiercely and fell as the surge on the shore.
Firm as the rock of the ocean for ages,
Stem the rude torrent till danger is o’er.


Fate with its whirlwind our joys may all sever,
True to our selves, we have nothing to fear.
Be this our hope and our anchor for ever –
Never despair – Boys – oh! Never despair.




THE SENTENCE WAS COMMUTED TO TRANSPORTATION AND HE SPENT FIVE YEARS IN Tasmania before receiving an unconditional pardon in 1856 and returning to Ireland.
 
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