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AS down by Bannas 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 oer and oer, | |
Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, mo cailín og, | |
Si Mailligh mo stoir. | |
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The daisy pied, and all the sweets | |
The dawn of Nature yields | 10 |
The primrose pale, the violet blue, | |
Lay scattered oer the fields; | |
Such fragrance in the bosom lies | |
Of her whom I adore. Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, etc. | |
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I laid me down upon a bank, | 15 |
Bewailing my sad fate, | |
That doomed me thus the slave of love | |
And cruel Mollys hate; | |
How can she break the honest heart | |
That wears her in its core? Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, etc. | 20 |
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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. | |
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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 Id gladly share | |
My kine and fleecy store. Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, etc. | |
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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 oer. Ah! Grádh mo chroídhe, etc. | |
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Then fare thee well, my Molly dear! | |
Thy loss I eer 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. | |
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