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Song of Saint Patrick - Part 5 - Deeds

VI
Deeds

Patrick traveled lightly, 
	He carried but his needed load
		And made himself as useful 
	As he could along the road.
			He aided all who asked him,
				Offering a hand where'er he went
					And they, pagan or not, knew in his form
				A blessing had been sent.

He made it, at last, to Ireland
	And saw that he was needed there,
		For, by the tribal rulers,
	Hope in life had been made bare;
			In his Creator's will for him,
				Patrick was most sure--
					That in his steadfast faith in God
				Would lay any problem's cure.

Patrick was a foreigner, 
	He had no wordly protection
		As he wandered through the Counties,
	Which were then tribal sections.
			Gifts and money, Patrick refused,
				For conversion God did send
					Him among the tribes and chieftains, 
				this rarely made a friend.

(Patrick never knew 
	That by the Druids long before
		A vision had been prophesied,
	A piece of their fathers' lore
			About a harsh reformer,
				From whose table would fly impiety	
					And those, who chose to follow him,
				In blindness would agree.)

Patrick preached the gospel,
	Forgiveness and mercy
		And taught the Irish people
	Of the soul lasting eternity,
			Though some would not hear or objected,
				Some could not resist-
					There were so many converts
				With no need to insist.

The people told that Patrick
	Truly loved to teach
		And time flew from his awareness
	When he started to preach,
		(He carried a gnarled staff of Ash
			Where ever he went)
				One night he preached so long,
			The stick, roots into the ground, had sent!

Once Patrick lit a fire
	Upon Slane hill in County Meath.
		Billows of smoke filled the air
	And rose above the heath,
			He did this in defiance
				Of Leoghary, who was king
					And through Patricks brave resistance,
				Christ's teachings, through, did ring:

Many pagans hauled up buckets,
	The whole hillside they drenched,
		But Patrick's Paschal fire
	But by him could be quenched.
			It was upon this hillside
				Patrick dispelled pagan divinity
					By plucking the trefoil shamrock
				To illustrate the Trinity.

Copyright © Ian Thomas Phillips | Year Posted 2013

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