dots-menu
×

Home  »  Anthology of Irish Verse  »  10. Let Us Be Merry Before We Go

Padraic Colum (1881–1972). Anthology of Irish Verse. 1922.

By John Philpot Curran

10. Let Us Be Merry Before We Go

IF SADLY thinking, with spirits sinking,

Could, more than drinking, my cares compose

A cure for sorrow from sighs I’d borrow,

And hope to-morrow would end my woes.

But as in wailing there’s nought availing,

And Death unfailing will strike the blow,

Then for that reason, and for a season,

Let us be merry before we go.

To joy a stranger, a wayworn ranger,

In every danger my course I’ve run;

Now hope all ending, and death befriending,

His last aid lending, my cares are done.

No more a rover, or hapless lover,

My griefs are over—my glass runs low;

Then for that reason, and for a season,

Let us be merry before we go.