St. Patrick's Day / Jean Blewett

St. Patrick's Day

There’s an Isle, a green Isle, set in the sea,
    Here’s to the Saint that blessed it!
And here’s to the billows wild and free
    That for centuries have caressed it!

Here’s to the day when the men that roam
    Send longing eyes o’er the water!
Here’s to the land that still spells home
    To each loyal son and daughter!

Here’s to old Ireland — fair, I ween,
    With the blue skies stretched above her!
Here’s to her shamrock warm and green,
    And here’s to the hearts that love her!

~~
Jean Blewett (1872-1954)
from The Cornflower, and other poems, 1906

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada, the United States, and the European Union]

Jean Blewett biography

"St. Patrick's Day in the Morning" greeting card, 1906. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.