THERE came to the beach a poor exile of Erin.
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The dew on his thin robe was heavy and chill;
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For his country he sighed, when at twilight repairing.
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To wander alone by the winds beaten hill.
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But the day-star attracted his eyes sad devotion,
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For it rose o'er his own native isle of the ocean,
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When once in the fire of his youthful emotion,
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He sang the loud anthem of Erin-go-Bragh.
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" Sad is my fate !" said the heart-broken stranger :
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The wild-deer and wolf to a convert can flee.
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But I have no refuge from famine and danger-
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A home and a country remain not to me.
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Never again, in the green sunny bowars,
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Where my fortfathers lived, shall I spend the sweet hours,
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Or cover my harp with the wild -women flower,
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And strike to the numbers of Erin-go-Bragh.
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" Erin, my country ! though sad and forsaken,
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In dreams I revisit thy sea beaten shore:
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But alas ! in a far foreign land I awaken,
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And sigh for the friend who can meet me no more
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O ! cruel fate ! wilt thou never replace me
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In a mansion of peace where no perils can chase me?
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Never again shall my brothers embrace me ?
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They died to defend me, or live to deplore !
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" Where is my cabin door, fast by the wild wood?
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Sisters and sire, did you weep for its fall?
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Where is the mother that looked on my childhood ?
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And where is the bosom friend dearer than all ?
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O! my sad heart! long abandoned by pleasure,
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Why did it doat on fast-fading treasure ?
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Tears, like the rain-drops, may fall with-out measure,
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But rapture and beauty they cannot recall.
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" Yet all its sad recollections suppressing,
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One dying wish my lone bosom can draw
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Erin ! an exile bequeaths thee his blessing !
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Land of my foreathrs. erin- go- bragh!
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Buried and cold, when my heart stills its motion,
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Green be thy fields, sweetest Isle of the ocean !
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And thy harp-striking bards sing aloud with devotion?
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Erin Mavourneen !?Erin-go-Bragh."
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The Exile Of Erin / Air: I Mo Sheasamh Ar An Tra (As I Stand On The Beach)
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| Andy M. Stewart |
