Poems: Patriotic, Religious, Miscellaneous | Page 3

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Father Ryan's Poems
By Abram J. Ryan, (Father Ryan)
Introduction:
In preparing this electronic text of Father Ryan's poems,
I was struck
by the biased nature of the memoir included.
While I will not gainsay
anyone's right to their beliefs,
I believe it is clearly evident from the
poems themselves
that Father Ryan believed strongly in the Southern
Cause,
and I do not believe his reaction was entirely emotional,
as
seems to be implied. The Memoir also makes mention of
Father
Ryan's poem "Reunited", as evidence of his support
for the
reunification of the States. To be fair to Ryan,
I would note that such
stanzas as
"The Northern heart and the Southern heart
May beat in peace again;
"But still till time's last day,
Whatever lips may plight,
The blue is
blue, but the gray is gray,
Wrong never accords with Right."
in `Sentinel Songs', are much more common in his poems.
I believe it important to notice this, as it demonstrates
that while
Ryan loved Peace, he never forsook the Cause.
Regarding his possible dates of birth, I can do no better
than the
Memoir included, but I can at least match places
with dates, to wit:
Hagerstown, Md., on 5 February 1838;
or Norfolk, Virginia,
sometime in 1838 or 15 August 1839.
His full name was Abram
Joseph Ryan, and he was the son
of Matthew and Mary (Coughlin)
Ryan. He was ordained in 1856 and he taught at Niagara, N.Y. and
Cape Girardeau, Missouri, before he became a chaplain in the

Confederate Army in 1862. He edited several publications, including
the "Pacificator", the Catholic weekly "The Star" (New Orleans),
and
"The Banner of the South" in Augusta, Georgia.
He was the pastor of
St. Mary's Church in Mobile, Alabama
from 1870 to 1883. He died at
a Franciscan Monastery
at Louisville, Kentucky, on 22 April 1886.
He is buried in Mobile.
His most famous poem is "The Conquered Banner",
which had its
measure inspired by a Gregorian hymn.
Alan R. Light, May, 1996, Birmingham, Alabama.
[Note on text: Italicized words or phrases are marked by tildes (~).
Some obvious errors have been corrected.]
Poems: Patriotic, Religious, Miscellaneous.
By Abram J. Ryan, (Father Ryan).
Containing his posthumous poems.
"All Rests with those who Read. A work or thought
Is what each
makes it to himself, and may
Be full of great dark meanings, like the
sea,
With shoals of life rushing; or like the air,
Benighted with the
wing of the wild dove,
Sweeping miles broad o'er the far
southwestern woods
With mighty glimpses of the central light --
Or
may be nothing -- bodiless, spiritless."
0. Festus.
[Based on the 1880 edition, the 1896 edition (New York)
from which
this was transcribed also includes Ryan's posthumous poems.]
THESE
SIMPLE RHYMES
ARE LAID AS A GARLAND OF
LOVE
AT THE FEET OF HIS MOTHER
BY HER CHILD THE

AUTHOR
Preface
These verses (which some friends call by the higher title of Poems, to
which appellation the author objects) were written at random -- off and
on, here, there, anywhere -- just when the mood came, with little of
study and less of art, and always in a hurry.
Hence they are incomplete in finish, as the author is;
tho' he thinks
they are true in tone. His feet know more of the humble steps that lead
up to the Altar and its Mysteries than of the steeps that lead up to
Parnassus and the Home of the Muses.
And souls were always more
to him than songs. But still,
somehow -- and he could not tell why --
he sometimes tried to sing. Here are his simple songs. He never
dreamed of taking even lowest place in the rank of authors. But friends
persisted; and, finally, a young lawyer friend, who has entire charge of
his business in the book, forced him to front the world and its critics.
There are verses connected with the war published in this volume, not
for harm-sake, nor for hate-sake, but simply because the author wrote
them. He could write again in the same tone and key, under the same
circumstances. No more need be said, except that these verses mirror
the mind of
THE AUTHOR.
Contents
Memoir of Father Ryan
Song of the Mystic
Reverie ["Only a few more years!"]
Lines --
1875
A Memory
Rhyme
Nocturne ["I sit to-night by the
firelight,"]
The Old Year and the New
Erin's Flag
The Sword of
Robert Lee
Life
A Laugh -- and A Moan
In Memory of My
Brother
"Out of the Depths"
A Thought
March of the Deathless
Dead
Reunited
A Memory
At Last
A Land without Ruins

Memories
The Prayer of the South
Feast of the Assumption


Sursum Corda
A Child's Wish
Presentiment
Last of May

"Gone"
Feast of the Sacred Heart
In Memory of Very