Chapter I: Front Matter

_Here is the well-spring of those sparkling, saving waters--
Here, in the heart of Mary’s Blessed Boy!_

(_See page 33._)
]

Prince Ragnal

AND OTHER HOLIDAY VERSES

BY

ELEANOR C. DONNELLY

PHILADELPHIA

H. L. Kilner & Co.

PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1898, by Eleanor C. Donnelly.

TO

MY REVERED FRIEND OF MANY YEARS,

Rev. Matthew Russell, S. J.,

Editor of the “Irish Monthly,” Dublin, Ireland,

THIS LITTLE BOOK IS DEDICATED

BY HIS SPECIAL PERMISSION.

FINDING LIST

PAGE

PRINCE RAGNAL 9

CHRISTMAS CAROL 22

AT DAME NOËL’S 26

A MURILLO 29

THE STABLE OF BETHLEHEM 31

THE THREE MASSES ON CHRISTMAS DAY 34

THE GOD-MAN 37

BETHLEHEM’S QUEEN 38

Prince Ragnal.

A Christmas Legend of Early Christian Ireland.

THE EVE.

White and chill from the wintry skies,
The starlight falls upon ancient Eire:
The wind makes moan thro’ the leafless trees
Of Devenish Isle, like a soul in fear,--
Deep in the heart of its snowy woods,
Fanning a peat-flame, lone and drear.

The ruined hut where that turf-fire glows
Hath never a roof of thatch or stone,
But bow and spear on the rude walls hang,
And a bed of skins on the floor is strewn,
Where, close to the embers, stern and still,
Ragnal the leper sits alone.

Ragnal of Errigal, prince of doom,
His face, a death-mask of despair;--
The foul disorder’s loathly scales
Lacquer his skin with their hideous glair:
Dulling the blue of his brave young eye,
Dimming the gold of his tangled hair.

Bowed like a churl of three-score ten,
His peakéd chin in his wasted hands,
He watches the flames with a sluggish eye,
Sparkle and glow in their fiery dance;
Till, deep in the embers, pictured, lie
His life’s lost hopes--its dead romance.

A royal castle beside the sea,
On breezy cliffs, exultant, set:
A Prince and Princess, young and fair,
Pacing the grassy parapet,
The golden fringe of his long, bright hair
Sweeping the maiden’s locks of jet.

Thro’ perfum’d air, replete with peace,
The swallows skim the blue waves’ flow:
The lovely Dympna’s hand, at rest
On her lover’s arm (a thing of snow)--
Thrills, as he bends his head, and breathes
In her blushing ear, a whisper low.

She gathers the fleece of her floating veil
From the nodding shade of his raven plume,
As, gravely pleading, he bends again
To hear those bright lips speak his doom.
--Why does she start and lift her head?
Why are her cheeks devoid of bloom?

He sees the flash of her wide, dark eye,
He hears her clear voice rise and fall:
“Sooner than sell my faith in Christ,
My life I’d yield--my love--my all!
Content my bridal vows should prove
A martyr’s grave and a virgin’s pall!”

Then, in the flames, his other self
He sees, erect in scorn and pride:
“Sooner would I a leper be,
Far from the world to crouch and hide,
Than bend to a Christian priest mine knee,
Or take to mine arms a Christian bride!”

The royal blood leaps in her face,
Her voice rings out its golden knell:
“O Christ! incline Thy pitying grace,
And pardon this poor infidel!”
Then, with averted, shuddering gaze,
“Unhappy Ragnal! fare thee well!”

A sudden darkness shuts her in ...
The flutter of her snowy gown--
The sunlit towers--the sparkling waves
In pallid embers, crumble down;
As Ragnal by the fire sits,
A leprous Prince without a crown!

“O lily, nurtured by the sea!
Sweet Dympna, long-lost, promised bride!
Thine unknown Christ”--(he cries aloud):
“This night hath triumph’d o’er my pride!
Forgive me!”--Lo! a gust of song
Fills all the wintry world outside!

THE DAWN.

A thrilling, heavenly harmony
From silvern harps and lutes divine:
The Leper, prostrate on his face,
Drinks in the glorious draught like wine;
Then, rising, reels like drunken wight,
Into the starlight’s wondrous shine.

For strange, unearthly lustres fill
The frosty air. To Ragnal blown,
Across Lough Erne, there comes the breath
Of sweetest blossoms ever grown;
Yet, right or left, above, below,
No living thing or shape is shown.

All wordless, o’er the sparkling Lough,
The music steals again--but hark!
“_Gloria in excelsis!_” sings
A voice, up-soaring like a lark;
While: “_Et in terra pax!_” (strange words!)
Drop down to Ragnal thro’ the dark.

His breast heaves with a mighty fear,
The strong man trembles like a reed:
The while the minstrels float before,
(Tho’ ulcer’d feet and ankles bleed),
Straight onward through the shining wood,
He needs must follow where they lead;

And walks, and walks, and walks, and walks,
His bare feet buried in the snow;
While flaming eyes of savage beasts
From bog and thicket, glare and glow.
He sees the stars slide down the east,
He hears the cocks begin to crow.

Yet walks, and walks, and walks, and walks,
Till ev’ry nerve and sinew aches,
And sweat and blood and loathly scales
Mark ev’ry painful step he takes--
When, suddenly, the rapturous sound
That lured him on--his path forsakes!

And with his burning forehead bared,
The hoar-frost on his yellow locks,
The Leper finds himself before
An open cave, wherein an ox
And ass are stalled--dumb, placid brutes,--
Their manger rooted in the rocks.

And in the midst--O Vision strange!--
A Woman glorious as the moon,
Upon whose breast, a radiant Child
Lies, like a rosebud blown in June,
His eyes (twin-lamps of Paradise!)
Making the night a brilliant noon.

They look on Ragnal sweet, yet sad,
And Ragnal bends his aching knee;
He stretches forth his wasted arms,
And cries: “Eternal praise to Thee!
O Blessed Christ! Thine hour is come--
Complete the work begun in me!”

And then, he swoons--how long--how short
A space, he knows not--till his eyes
He, languid, opens to the dawn,
Faint-blushing in the eastern skies;
And sees the cavern full of shapes,
And blazing with a glad surprise!

_And in the midst--O Vision strange!--
A Woman glorious as the moon,
Upon whose breast, a radiant Child
Lies, like a rosebud blown in June._

(_See page 16._)
]

An altar cloth’d with pure samite,
Adorned with gold and precious stones--
A Christian priest in vestments white
Baptizing many little ones;
And all the people on their knees
Singing in full, melodious tones!--

Whose hand on Ragnal’s shoulder lies?
Whose sweet voice murmurs in his ear?
“For such as _thou_, the Christ was born;
Arise, Prince Ragnal, and draw near!”
A veiléd woman leads him down
To where the altar-lights shine clear.

The Hidden Presence strong and sweet
His erring son would closer draw.
In the warm glory of the shrine,
His icy blood begins to thaw:
Yet Ragnal dare not lift his eyes--
He trembles with delicious awe.

What time the children yield him place,
(Without a look or sign of dread),
Kneeling before the agéd priest,
The sacred words are softly said;
And with a thrill of joy, he feels
The saving waters on his head.

O miracle of purest faith!
The people shout and clap their hands--
Like some foul mantle, earthward, cast,
Down drop the Leper’s loathsome bands!--
Ragnal, the Golden-hair’d, once more,
In manly beauty, perfect, stands!

While, clear and strong to Heaven’s high court,
Goes up the glorious Christmas hymn--
The shrouded woman at his side
Flings back her veil from eyes that swim
With happy tears--and Dympna’s face
Shines star-like, from the shadows dim!

Forgiven the past--forgot the pains
Which made _that_ face his bitterest dream;
A trusting smile is on its lips,
Its eyes with glad affection beam,
While, down the Prince’s waving beard,
The grateful tears, unbidden, stream.

The priest hath joined their willing hands;
The day grows bright--the wind blows free--
As thro’ the woods, they go to seek
Their sunlit castle by the sea.
O Ragnal of the Golden Hair!
The Lord hath gracious dealt with thee!

Christmas Carol.

I.

O holy Night! O starry Night,
That ushers in Salvation’s morn!
O blessed Eve of rare delight,
Whereon the Christ was born!
Thine angels flood the hills with song,
And rouse the shepherds from their sleep;
While past’ral pipes the lay prolong,
Around the Stable door, they throng
With votive lambs and sheep.

Sing _Gloria_, sing _Gloria_
_In excelsis Deo!_

II.

O solemn Night! O lustrous Night,
That fills the earth with brightest Day!
The Wise Men come in robes of white
From kingdoms far away.

_This Babe--the Virgin’s sinless Boy--
Shall sin and hell and death destroy,
And heaven’s portals ope!_

(_See page 25._)
]

What time their weary journey ends,
They haste to worship Judah’s King;
In jewel’d zones and bazubends
Behold the three Chaldean friends,
Gold, myrrh, and incense bring!

Sing _Gloria_, sing _Gloria_
_In excelsis Deo!_