IRIS 



3055 



IRISH LITERATURE 



The legends of the iris are many. The 

 Greeks named it after the goddess of the rain- 

 bow because of its 

 wonderful colors; 

 in poetry it stands 

 for wisdom, truth 

 and courage, and 

 for centuries it has 

 been the emblem 

 of chivalry. The 

 white iris was 

 chosen by Louis 

 VII, in the twelfth 

 century, as the 

 flower of the kings 

 of France, and it 

 became known as 

 the fleurde Louis 

 (flower of Louis') IRIS 



which changed Flower ' leaf and otstock - 

 slowly to fleur-de-lis and flower-de-luce. It is 

 now the national flower of France, and also the 

 emblem of the Italian city of Florence. 



IRIS, in Greek mythology, the special 

 golden-winged attendant and messenger of 

 Juno, or Hera, the queen of heaven, whose 

 commands she executed with tact, intelligence 

 and swiftness. Iris is usually represented 

 seated behind the chariot of Hera, robed in 

 an airy fabric of variegated hues resembling 

 mother-of-pearl. The rainbow was originally 

 regarded as the path over which she passed to 

 earth, and thus Iris came to be the personifi- 

 cation of the rainbow. 



IRISH, i'rish, LITERATURE. This term 

 has two meanings. It may refer to productions 

 in the old Irish, or Gaelic, tongue, or to those 

 written in English by Irish authors. The lat- 

 ter is of far more general interest, but the 

 former is well worth brief comment. 



In Irish. Some very old inscriptions are still 

 in existence which date presumably from the 

 fifth century, but the oldest manuscripts are 

 probably from the seventh century. One of 

 these manuscripts contains in metrical form a 

 life of Saint Patrick, which, however, is so 

 interwoven with legends of miraculous happen- 

 ings as to be of little authority. In the next 

 age the age after the Danes had been over- 

 thrown (see IRELAND, subtitle History} poetry 

 flourished. These early Celts, barbarous as 

 were some of their ways, produced excellent 

 architecture, their manuscript books were 

 exquisitely illuminated, and in even the com- 

 mon articles of household use they showed a 

 keen sense of the graceful and artistic. They 



were lovers of music, and a poet with his harp 

 was almost as powerful as a king. The ballads 

 or epics of heroes sung by these bards show 

 considerable poetic skill and are the finest 

 specimens of native Irish literature. Some of 

 these are partly in prose, and even here there 

 are manifested a remarkable vividness of 

 description and the charm of unrestrained 

 fancy. 



Later Irish literature is of less significance. 

 As the English language became more com- 

 mon and the Irish-speaking part of the popula- 

 tion became smaller and lost its interest in 

 education, fewer and fewer works were pro- 

 duced. Prose, indeed, practically ceased after 

 the seventeenth century, but the musical old 

 tongue continued to be used for poetry well 

 into the nineteenth century, and played a real 

 part in keeping alive a feeling of nationality. 

 At last poetry, too, died out, and it seemed 

 as though the language might fall into total 

 disuse. In the early twentieth century, how- 

 ever, a Gaelic League was formed with the 

 object of reviving the use of Irish, and within 

 a very short time it had almost a thousand 

 branches. It has brought about the study of 

 Irish in the schools, and it publishes numerous 

 books and magazines. 



In English. Not until the late eighteenth 

 and early nineteenth century did there exist 

 such a thing as an Irish literature in English. 

 It began, as the old Irish literature had begun, 

 with ballads, and one of these, The Wearin' o' 

 the Green, has become widely known. The 

 first stanza of this poem, dear to Irishmen 

 everywhere, runs as follows: 



Paddy dear, and did you hear the news that's 



goin' round? 

 The shamrock is forbid by law to grow on Irish 



ground ; 

 St. Patrick's day no more we'll keep; his colors 



can't be seen : 

 For there's a bloody law again' the wearin' o' the 



green. 



1 met with Napper Tandy, and he took me by the 



hand, 

 And he said, "How's poor old Ireland, and how 



does she stand?" 

 She's the most distressful country that ever yet 



was seen ; 

 They are hangin' men and women for the wearin' 



o' the green. 



Thomas Moore is the most distinguished poet 

 of this early period, and his Irish Melodies 

 did much to awaken literary interest. Particu- 

 larly well known is the little poem here given, 

 referring to the harp, the national emblem of 

 Ireland : 



