THAT angel whose charge was Eiré sang thus, o’er the dark Isle winging; <br />By a virgin his song was heard at a tempest’s ruinous close: <br />“Three golden ages God gave while your tender green blade was springing; <br />Faith’s earliest harvest is reaped. To-day God sends you three woes. <br /> <br />“For ages three without laws ye shall flee as beasts in the forest; <br />For an age and a half age faith shall bring, not peace, but a sword; <br />Then laws shall rend you, like eagles sharp-fanged, of your scourges the sorest; <br />When these three woes are past, look up, for your hope is restored. <br /> <br />“The times of your woes shall be twice the time of your foregone glory; <br />But fourfold at last shall lie the grain on your granary floor.” <br />The seas in vapour shall flee, and in ashes the mountains hoary; <br />Let God do that which He wills. Let his servants endure and adore!”<br /><br />Aubrey Thomas de Vere<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-three-woes/
