... used to think that then we could say to letters as Henry of Navarre wrote to the Sir Philip Sidney of his realm, Crillon, the bravest of the brave, We have conquered at Arques, et tu n'y etais pas, Crillon , --You were not there, my Crillon. But a second thought reminds me that what claims to be literature has been always present in that battlefield, and always in the ranks of the foe. Ireland i...