Life and Phantasy by William Allingham: With frontispiece by Sir John E. Millais: A design by Arthur H. Hughes and a song for voice and piano forte |
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THE OLD TUNE.
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| II. |
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| IV. |
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 | Life and Phantasy |  |
80
THE OLD TUNE.
This is one of those tunes which are
said in Ireland to have been first learnt by overhearing the Fairies.
It is here given from Bunting's Collection. Perhaps it may be permissible
to say that Moore's words, metrically skilful as they are,
do not well accord with the character of the air, in which, moreover,
he changed certain of the notes.
This is one of those tunes which are said in Ireland to have been first learnt by overhearing the Fairies. It is here given from Bunting's Collection. Perhaps it may be permissible to say that Moore's words, metrically skilful as they are, do not well accord with the character of the air, in which, moreover, he changed certain of the notes.
I
'Mongst the green Irish hills I love dearly,At the close of a bright summer day,
I heard an old tune lilted clearly,
That sooth'd half my sorrows away.
And far o'er the wide-rolling ocean
Methinks I am hearing it now,
As a farewell of tender emotion,—
“The Pretty Girl Milking her Cow.”
II
Next day was the last look of Erin;'Twas almost like death to depart;
And since, in my foreign wayfaring,
That tune's like a thread round my heart.
Still back to the dear old Green Island
It draws me, I cannot tell how,
The whisper in music of my land,—
“The Pretty Girl Milking her Cow.”
| Life and Phantasy | |