Chaunt of The Cholera Songs for Ireland. By the Authors of "The O'Hara Tales," "The Smuggler," &c. [i.e. John Banim] |
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THE SHAMROCK AND THE LILY. |
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 | Chaunt of The Cholera |  |
45
THE SHAMROCK AND THE LILY.
I
Sir Shamrock, sitting drinking,At close of day, at close of day,
Saw Orange Lily, thinking,
Come by that way, come by that way;
With can in hand he hail'd him,
And jovial din, and jovial din;
The Lily's drouth ne'er fail'd him—
So he stept in, so he stept in.
II
At first they talk'd together,Reserved and flat, reserved and flat,
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And this and that, and this and that—
But, as the glass moved quicker,
To make amends, to make amends,
They spoke—though somewhat thicker—
Yet more like friends, yet more like friends.
III
“Why not call long before, man,To try a glass, to try a glass?”
Quoth Lily—“People told me
You'd let me pass, you'd let me pass—
Nay, and they whisper'd too, man,
Death in the pot, death in the pot,
Slipt in for me by you, man—
Though I hope not, though I hope not.”
IV
“Oh foolish, foolish Lily!Good drink to miss, good drink to miss,
For gossip all so silly,
And false as this, and false as this;
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With such bald chat, with such bald chat,
You're losing, day by day, man,
Much more than that, much more than that.
V
“Here, in this land of mine, man,Good friends with me, good friends with me,
A life almost divine, man,
Your life might be, your life might be;
But—jars for you! till, in, man,
My smiling land, my smiling land,
You bilious grow, and thin, man,
As you can stand, as you can stand.
VI
“Now, if 'tis no affront, man,On you I call, on you I call,
To tell me what you want, man,
At-all-at-all, at-all-at-all;—
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A word or two, a word or two;
For there's neither rhyme nor reason
In your hubbubboo! your hubbubboo!
VII
“With you I'll give and take, man,A foe to cares, a foe to cares,
Just asking, for God's sake, man,
To say my prayers, to say my prayers,
And, like an honest fellow,
To take my drop, to take my drop,
In reason, till I'm mellow,
And then to stop, and then to stop.
VIII
“And why should not things be so,Between us both, between us both?
You're so afraid of me? Pho!
All fudge and froth, all fudge and froth;—
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So much ado, so much ado?
What is he, silly Lily,
To me or you, to me or you?
IX
“Can he, for all you shout, man,Back to us come, back to us come,
Our devils to cast out, man,
And strike them dumb, and strike them dumb?
Or breezes mild make blow, man,
In summer-peace, in summer-peace,
Until the land o'erflow, man,
With God's increase, with God's increase!”
X
“What you do say, Sir Shamrock,”The Lily cried, the Lily cried,
“I'll think of, my old game-cock,
And more beside, and more beside;—
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I'm free to say, I'm free to say,
We should be more together,
Just in this way, just in this way.”
XI
“Well—top your glass, Sir Lily,Our parting one, our parting one—
A bumper and a tilly,
To past and gone, to past and gone—
And to the future day, lad,
That yet may see, that yet may see,
Good humor and fair play, lad,
'Twixt you and me, 'twixt you and me!”
| Chaunt of The Cholera | |