Pibroch of the Domhnall
By Joseph Charles MacKenzie
Author’s Notes:
§ The refrains at the end of each stanza are to be recited by the Inaugural crowd.
§ A Pibroch is a rallying bagpipe tune and is pronounced like “PEA-brohgh.”
§ Domhnall, the Scottish form of the name Donald, is pronounced like “TONE-all”
§ Torquil was the royal progenitor of the MacLeods of Lewis, the outer hebridean island and birthplace of President Trump’s immigrant mother, Mary Anne MacLeod.
Come out for the Domhnall, ye brave men and proud,
The scion of Torquil and best of MacLeod!
With purpose and strength he came down from his tower
To snatch from a tyrant his ill-gotten power.
Now the cry has gone up with a cheer from the crowd:
“Come out for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!”
When freedom is threatened by slavery’s chains
And voices are silenced as misery reigns,
We’ll come out for a leader whose courage is true
Whose virtues are solid and long overdue.
For, he’ll never forget us, we men of the crowd
Who elected the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
When crippling corruption polluted our nation
And plunged our economy into stagnation,
As self-righteous rogues took the opulent office
And plump politicians reneged on their promise,
The forgotten continued to form a great crowd
That defended the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
The Domhnall’s a giver whilst others just take,
Ne’er gaining from that which his hands did not make.
A builder of buildings, employing good men,
He’s enriched many cities by factors of ten.
The honest and true gladly march with the crowd
Standing up for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
True friend of the migrant from both far and near,
He welcomes the worthy, but guards our frontier,
Lest a murderous horde, for whom hell is the norm,
Should threaten our lives and our nation deform.
We immigrants hasten to swell the great crowd
Coming out for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
Academe now lies dead, the old order rots,
No longer policing our words and our thoughts;
Its ignorant hirelings pretending to teach
Are backward in vision, sophomoric in speech.
Now we learnèd of mind add ourselves to the crowd
That cheers on the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
The black man, forgotten, in poverty dying,
The poor man, the sick man, with young children crying,
The soldier abroad and the mother who waits,
The young without work or behind prison gates,
The veterans, wounded, all welcome the crowd
That fights for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
Whilst hapless old harridans flapping their traps
Teach women to look and behave like us chaps,
The Domhnall defends the defenseless forlorn;
For, a woman’s first right is the right to be born.
Now the bonnie young lassies that fly to the crowd
Have a champion in Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
But for all his great wisdom, the braw gallant man
Is matched by his children, the handsome Trump clan,
And the flower of Europe, Melania the fair,
Adds a luster and grace with her long flowing hair.
May they flourish and prosper to form a great crowd
Around the good Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
Is there man left in Scotland, without base alloy,
Who remembers the Wallace, the Bruce, or Rob Roy?
Or have five hundred years of a blasphemous lie
Robbed your manhood of might that you lay down and die?
Get up and walk free, all ye brave men and proud!
Long life to the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
© Joseph Charles MacKenzie, all rights reserved
Joseph Charles MacKenzie is the first and last American to win First Place in the Long Poem Section of the Scottish International Poetry Competition, Henry M. Austin Poetry Prize.
(The views expressed in individual poems on this website do not reflect those of the Society. The Society does not endorse political candidates.)
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Gentle Readers,
I am very pleased to announce that a magnificent Scottish voice has agreed to make a recording of what has become known throughout the world as “Mr. Trump’s Inaugural Poem”—quite possibly the most widely read poem in British-American circles at this moment. I hereby release it to the general public for its enjoyment and edification. If I must accept the title of “Inaugural Poet” from the hands of History herself, no more intending to wear this mantle than Mr. Trump initially intended to bear upon his shoulders that of President of our nation, know that I accept it in deepest humility and gratitude to all those who have supported my endeavor, in particular Mr. Evan Mantyk, the brilliant, young editor of the Society of Classical poets. Contrary to rumors—the fruit, no doubt, of great excitement at the appearance of so novel a work—my poem, alas, is not to be read at the official ceremonies of Inauguration. For, Providence has arranged that the “Inaugural Poem,” rather than descending from the pretentious podium of an academic elite, should arise instead from the hearts of those Forgotten Men and Women standing upon the solid earth of their convictions. For, I am one of the Forgotten Men, a worker who knows too well life’s common struggle. In offering the gift of the “Inaugural Poem” to that courageous gentleman who clearly deserves the homage of the muse, and as my financial circumstances prevent me from attending the Inauguration of the very subject of my poem, may I please invite those assisting at this happy event to share in my absence the “Pibroch to the Domhnall” with the Inaugural Crowd whose diverse members are also celebrated in my rhymes. Thank you, Scotland, birthplace of song, for the lilt of my verses, and for the large and generous character of the world’s new leader. Congratulations, Mr. President!
Joseph Charles MacKenzie
Bravo!!!
Joe T
Many thanks, kind Sir.
This poem wasn’t perfect but I quite liked the meter and I’m glad someone at least gave a shot at giving Trump a poem.
J.L.S. Except for the repeated “refrain,” it’s the precise meter and rhyming scheme of “A Visit From St. Nicholas.” Very lofty indeed!
The ignorant, state-schooled, unbooked and anti-literary left has evidently never heard of Lord Byron’s “Destruction of Sennacherib,” Sir Walter Scott’s “Farewell to MacKenzie,” or several other time-honored sources for the meters and rhythms of the “Pibroch of the Domhnall.”
I suppose we’re lucky they can even read Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” especially as St. Nicholas was a veritable “Hammer of the Heretics” at the Council of Nicea.
Great job! I feel your poetry is very evocative and conveys a feeling, or sensibility, really well. Regretfully I see many negative comments. If people are moved by a poem and engage with it and get a true feeling of what the poem expresses, the poet has done their job. It is not neccessary that the reader shares the same political persuasion. Its also not neccessary for art to be a echo chamber for our pre existing views ; )
Oh yes, absolutely. There is the appreciation of a fine poem simply for what it is. I have no sympathies with Byron’s politics, but can appreciate his work for what it is.
Great, for Donald.
Yes, the poem certainly celebrates the Scottish character of DOnald J. Trump
Well done! I smiled throughout because I took it as a tongue-in-cheek kinda thing. My apologies if you were actually being serious.
Oh yes, your response is quite natural. Already we have that Scottish rhythm and, indeed, the whole decor of Sir Walter Scott’s world. I greatly appreciate that you were able to find a certain levity in my poem, as my themes are the very opposite of light. Indeed, I aimed for a poem that would be “souriant” as opposed to grave, even if my content reflects the troubles into which our nation has descended of late. The structure is actually quite complex, so I wanted the reader not to get lost in the depths, but rather enjoy the apparent seamlessness of the whole. So no apologies necessary as your smile is just exactly what I had hoped to achieve. We Americans need a bit of relief from our woes and divisions, so a bit of levity is something we can all of us appreciate at this time. Past inaugural poems have been pretentiously serious and stiff, even bureaucratic and, because modernist, utterly boring.
I seldom find a poem that I do not like and the cadence of yours is good, however I’m deeply troubled by the content. Is it satire? Is it going to be read at the inauguration? Would you mind clarifying?
I absolutely loved it and only wish that I had the talent and skill to have written it! I and many true American people who want truly to see him bring our country back to greatness hope this is the first of many to come celebrating his successful leadership!
To Mitchel Ahern: just for the record, the sentiments expressed in this poem are not shared by all of the poets on this site. Please don’t lump us together. Like any loose-knit group of human beings, we have diverse beliefs and opinions. This “hapless old harrigan” believes without apology that women should look and behave in whatever fashion they choose, just like the other half of humanity. And just for the record, I can’t imagine lauding a man whose fortune was built on bilking workers, sub-contractors and debtors out of money owed to them. Just because a thing is legal does not make it ethical, honorable or moral. For a wealthy man to file bankruptcy multiple times while still continuing to be wealthy is a shameful thing. I can’t see “the Domnhall” as anything other than utterly unworthy of the office he’s about to be sworn into. For the sake of my country (and the planet), I sincerely hope my perception of the danger he represents is wrong.
Pay no attention to the trolls. You can tell how good it is by how much they hate it. I loved your poem and passed it on. Women need to be freed from the “hapless old harridans flapping their traps,” especially because “a woman’s first right is the right to be born.”
What Michelle said actually…I agree it was well done, but I too found a certain levity in the verse…then again, I tend to find a certain levity in most everything…
Yes, levity is a legitimate aspect of this poem. We can’t all be a bunch of congenitally indignant liberals wearing a perpetual, Puritan frown.
Superb Pibroch, Joseph! Love the Scottish sound of the triple meter! A delightfully anti-PC rallying cry!
SCP is truly a movement which allows us to explore the freedom, and not just the restraints, of traditional poetry. I am grateful to be part of a true “milieu” which inspires me to explore new areas of creativity.
Delightful choice of words, meter, everything. I was with wee modest Crimson tipped flowers in my mouth (I know I’ve not gone for the accent there, forgive me, I’m on the treadmill). I’ll be looking for more of your poetry, I’m sure you have a link, a book, more on here ….
Ha, ha, ha! I love that my poem can be enjoyed on a treadmill (also a sober reminder that I need to acquire this virtue of exercise)! As for your question about my other verses, I have just posted http://www.mackenziepoet.com where you may actually hear some. Veteran British stage actor Ian Russell has just completed his recording of my sonnets and these are now being remastered (so not yet available but soon). As you will find, I am primarily a traditional lyric poet: https://mackenziepoet.com/
I should have been warned not to listen to your sonnets on the treadmill as they brought me to my knees. Thank you, Sir.
Father’s Day Sale 25% Off still going on, Dona. If you own the 2-CD set, you own a treasure. http://www.mackenziepoet.com
Only a man with great literary breadth and a knowledge of literary history could have pulled this off. This is THE presidential inaugural poem if ever there was one!
Amen, Gene in LA. Rather common for dictators and despots to hire court troubadours to sing their praises. Just one more part of the propaganda machine. Alas, as always, Trump demonstrates his lack of character and class by having a poem about him rather than the greatness of this nation or people.
You are misreading the poem through your ideological programming, received, no doubt, from a government-controlled “education” in the public school system.
The land was Trumps before we were the land’s.
She was Trump’s land more than a hundred years
Before we were Trump’s people. She was Trump’s
In Massachusetts, in Virginia,
But we were Trumps, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)
To the land vaguely realizing westward,
But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,
Such as she was, such as she would become.
?
“Whilst hapless old harridans flapping their traps
Teach women to look and behave like us chaps… ”
I have few words, too busy laughing. And as a descendant of Elliot Scottish warriors, I appreciated the Scottishness.
“Harridan” is etymologically a very interesting word indeed!
A lively, clever, and excellent handling of anapestic tetrameter. Kenneth is right; this is the unprecedented, presidential inaugural poem.
LET US BE AMERICA
(You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be
made salty again?) – Matthew 5:13
Let US be America
Let us herald a New World’s way
Be harbinger to all who cast aspiring eyes
Toward these shores and their wondrous tidings
A harbor indeed for those tempest-tost
So weary and wretched Let us be
Haven and hearth which by Heaven’s decree
Is terminus here in America
And let US be met by those blessings of Fortune
That we who’ve sown seeds in these rich, fertile soils
Are assured of then reaping as an ample reward
Bestowed upon All righteous husbandry
Indeed trusting of evermore bountiful harvests
For OUR children to glean Let us be
Pledged they will garner the magnificent legacy
Once testament here in America
Then let US now build that shining-city long sought
It/Home to a most remarkable people
They hold Justice as a father his dearest child
Liberty as an infant Its mother’s milk
Who are fearless, forthright and utterly faithful
To their tending posterity May WE Be Thus INDEED
A marvelous beacon which ALL Ages may heed
As/Hence tantamount here in America
So let us waste not, want not
Nor wander afar from Our great nation’s
most glorious Dream –
THIS (pray God) Let US be
America
THIS SHOULD BE READ AT THE INAUGURATION ON FRIDAY!!
MAYA ANGELOU
COULD TAKE A LESSON OR TWO
FROM YOU.
Please see below PTG (Paul Thomas Glass). And share my poem with anyone and everyone you will.
RIGHT HERE — PTG (Paul Thomas Glass)
“Let Us Be America” is located directly above Christine Tessitore’s entry.
And please: SHARE MY POEM!!!
She was not a poet. She was an activist.
In many ways, Maya Angelou was a victim of modernism, crippled by its mind-shackling dogmata.
It was supposed to be. And it is I who have learned MORE than one lesson from Maya Angelou (may she be in God’s arms). Please, Ms. Tessitore, I beg you: share my poem with anyone and everyone you will.
No one reads her anymore.
Obama received the popular and electoral vote, but sure “Ill gotten”
I was wondering about that one too… Is it standard to just call any elected official you dislike a “tyrant with ill-gotten power”?
Whether it is or not is less pertinent than that it perfectly describes Trump.
In Bardic poetry it is, the Kings Bard would laud whether merited or not the Kings achievements or powers, and insult beyond reason his opponents and detractors…
I didnt see Obama as a tyrant myself, though many from Iraq to Libya would beg to differ not to mention Palestine, but it wouldnt be for the reasons the poet here calls him so.
how so “ill gotten”?
Obama’s power was ill gotten because he failed to disclose to the electorate that he was a Jihadi implant for Iran.
“Ill gotten” because Obama did not inform the American people during his 2009 campaign that his idea of “transforming” America actually meant destroying it, or that he was, as history now shows, a Jihadi implant at the beck and call of Tehran.
Wow…
Just… wow…
He lied about his real agenda which was to destroy our country. If voters had been aware that Obama was a Jihadi implant, they never would have voted for him.
Well, if academe wasn’t dead before this poem was written, it certainly is now. Yiiiiiiiikes.
That’s another puzzler. Why on earth would “academe lies dead” be something to cheer for?
Because, for over half a century, state-funded, government controlled academia has been a mere instrument of Marxist indoctrination on behalf of the Democratic Party.
Right? I wish I could memorize this.
Truth! Alexander would be so proud of you.
Truly, you are a modern day Emmeline Grangerford.
If Emmeline Grangerford could make poetry like that, there ain’t no telling what she could a done by-and-by.
Ha! Ha! Well, you’ve penned a work that is perfect for the occasion*.
*not a compliment
When one of your “works” is shared over 34,000 times on one of the UK’s most popular London dailies, as was the “Pibroch for the Domhnall,” then perhaps your comment will be something more—but not much more—than impertinent.
Was this piece actually commissioned, or did you use write it speculatively?
Mr Moore, I lift my leafy arms to you. Somewhere Joyce Kilmer is laughing.
A pibroch is also a funeral song played on the pipes. Good use of double-entendre there.
I disagree with you, Jeremy, not just in your view of this poem, but probably also in your definition of beauty and grace. Notice, however, that my disagreement does not lead to my vilifying you or trotting out the “f-bomb.”
As you say, “[w]e’re still allowed to have opinions.” But it would be nice if the Wonkette crowd could show a bit more class as they share those opinions with us.
Honestly, this barely even scans.
It actually scans perfectly, Bill.
Thank you, John Milton. You are quite correct.
You evidently know nothing of scansion.
“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
Martin Luther King, Junior.
While greatly appreciated, it’s ironic in a way the quotation, as MLK was named after one of the most ferocious haters who ever lived.
The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies, but also to hate his friends.
Nietzsche, a pseudo-philosopher, was diagnosed with manic-depressive illness with periodic psychosis followed by vascular dementia. He had very often contemplated suicide. Perhaps you wish to follow his “philosophy” to its natural conclusion?
Brilliant response–thank you!