 | Ballads and Lyrics by Katharine Tynan |  |
148
IN IONA.
O 'tis pleasant in Iona
Whether in shine or snow!
Grand it is in Iona
When the north winds blow.
The birds sing sweet in Iona,
O very sweet and low!
But sore I miss in Iona
A voice I used to know.
Whether in shine or snow!
Grand it is in Iona
When the north winds blow.
The birds sing sweet in Iona,
O very sweet and low!
But sore I miss in Iona
A voice I used to know.
Iona hath the song-birds
And the hum of the bees,
The distant bark of house-dogs,
And the wind in the trees.
She hath the singing-cricket,
And the moan of the seas,
But never the low of cattle
My homesick heart to ease.
And the hum of the bees,
The distant bark of house-dogs,
And the wind in the trees.
She hath the singing-cricket,
And the moan of the seas,
But never the low of cattle
My homesick heart to ease.
The wee brown cow of Kerry
Is docile and kind,
The big-framed cow of Leinster
Is much to my mind,
The wild little cow of the mountains
Who shall loose or bind?
Sweet is the call of the milkmaid
Borne upon the wind.
Is docile and kind,
The big-framed cow of Leinster
Is much to my mind,
149
Who shall loose or bind?
Sweet is the call of the milkmaid
Borne upon the wind.
Columba he hath said it—
“Wherever a cow shall be,
There shall be found a woman,
Her wiles and witchery.
And in this Holy Island
May God forbid that she
Should plague with sore temptation
My holy men and me.”
“Wherever a cow shall be,
There shall be found a woman,
Her wiles and witchery.
And in this Holy Island
May God forbid that she
Should plague with sore temptation
My holy men and me.”
And since the kine are banished
Heavy my heart doth go,
O sweet it is in Iona
Whatever wind will blow
But I, the farmer-brother,
My tears are sad and slow
For the low of the kindly cattle,
The voice I used to know.
Heavy my heart doth go,
O sweet it is in Iona
Whatever wind will blow
But I, the farmer-brother,
My tears are sad and slow
For the low of the kindly cattle,
The voice I used to know.
| Ballads and Lyrics by Katharine Tynan | |