The pulse of an Irishman

The pulse of an Irishman ever beats quicker,
whan war is the story, or love is the theme;
and place him where bullets fly thicker and thicker,
you'll find him all cowardice scorning.
And tho' a ball should maim poor Darby,
light at the heart he rallies on:
"Fortune is cruel, but Norah, my jewel,
is kind, and with smiling, all sorrow beguiling,
shall bid from our cabin all care to be gone,
and how they will jig it, and tug at the spigot,
an Patrick's day in the mornin'."

O blest by the land in the wide western waters,
sweet Erin, lov'd Erin, the pride of my song;
still brave be the sons, and still fair be the daughters
thy meads and thy mountains adorning!
And tho'  the eastern sun seems tardy,
tho' the pure light of knowledge slow,
night and delusion, and darkling confusion
like mists from the river shall vanish for ever,
and true Irish hearts with warm loyalty glow;
and proud exaltation burst forth from the nation
on Patrick's day in the mornin'.

Input by Caroline Diehl

Authorship

by Sir Alexander Boswell (1775-1822) , title unknown

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) , "The pulse of an Irishman", WoO. 154 (12 Irische Lieder) no. 4, G. 225 no. 4, published 1814/6. [voice, piano, violin, violoncello]

FRE French (Isabelle Cecchini) , "Le sang d'un Irlandais", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German [singable] (G. Pertz) , "Das Blut eines Iren"

Text added to the website: 2005-01-16.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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