Ledwidge Poem by Bernard Kennedy

Francis, from Slane,
Poet, Lover, Soldier- in that order?
Hard and lonely start but gifted to see nature,
love and hedgerows
in their ideal.
Longfellow, Keats and Shelley, and
your teacher widened the narrow roads to
receive your talent.
A hundred years on we welcome you
home to the academy of poets of our world.
Your whistle came down the years,
and we see you again.
no more away, but claiming your place
in a widened road we welcome and
we remember. Man of lasting thoughtful words.