James Clarence Mangan

S. Patrick�s Hymn before Tara

CHRIST, as a light,
  Illumine and guide me!
Christ, as a shield, o�ershadow and cover me!
Christ be under me! Christ be over me!
  Christ be beside me
  On left hand and right!
Christ be before me, behind me, about me!
Christ this day be within and without me!  

Christ, the lowly and meek,
  Christ, the All-powerful, be
In the heart of each to whom I speak,
  In the mouth of each who speaks to me!
    In all who draw near me,
    Or see me or hear me!  

At Tara to-day, in this awful hour,
  I call on the Holy Trinity!
Glory to Him who reigneth in power,
The God of the Elements, Father, and Son,
And Paraclete Spirit, which Three are the One,
  The ever-existing Divinity!       

Salvation dwells with the Lord,
With Christ, the Omnipotent Word.
From generation to generation
Grant us, O Lord, Thy grace and salvation! 

—a translation from the Irish by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849) from Nicholson, D. H. S., and Lee, A. H. E., eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1917; Bartleby.com, 2000

St. Patrick supposedly said this prayer before he went to preach the gospel to the High King of Ireland at Tara. He was in danger of his life from the Druid priests.

James Clarence Mangan was an Irish Nationalist poet.