| |
| AS down by Banna’s banks I strayed, | |
| One evening in May, | |
| The little birds, in blithest notes, | |
| Made vocal every spray; | |
| They sung their little notes of love, | 5 |
| They sung them o’er and o’er, | |
| Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, mo cailín og, | |
| ’Si Mailligh mo stoir. | |
| |
| The daisy pied, and all the sweets | |
| The dawn of Nature yields— | 10 |
| The primrose pale, the violet blue, | |
| Lay scattered o’er the fields; | |
| Such fragrance in the bosom lies | |
Of her whom I adore.
Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, etc. | |
| |
| I laid me down upon a bank, | 15 |
| Bewailing my sad fate, | |
| That doomed me thus the slave of love | |
| And cruel Molly’s hate; | |
| How can she break the honest heart | |
That wears her in its core?
Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, etc. | 20 |
| |
| You said you loved me, Molly dear! | |
| Ah? why did I believe! | |
| Yet who could think such tender words | |
| Were meant but to deceive? | |
| That love was all I asked on earth— | 25 |
Nay, Heaven could give no more.
Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, etc. | |
| |
| O had I all the flocks that graze | |
| On yonder yellow hill, | |
| Or lowed for me the numerous herds | |
| That yon green pasture fill— | 30 |
| With her I love I’d gladly share | |
My kine and fleecy store.
Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, etc. | |
| |
| Two turtle-doves, above my head, | |
| Sat courting on a bough; | |
| I envied them their happiness, | 35 |
| To see them bill and coo. | |
| Such fondness once for me was shown, | |
But now, alas! ’tis o’er.
Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, etc. | |
| |
| Then fare thee well, my Molly dear! | |
| Thy loss I e’er shall moan; | 40 |
| Whilst life remains in my poor heart, | |
| ’Twill beat for thee alone: | |
| Though thou art false, may Heaven on thee | |
| Its choicest blessings pour. | |
| Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, mo cailín og, | 45 |
| ’Si Mailligh mo stoir. | |
| |
