Songs and Poems by George Sigerson :: :: University of Virginia Library

Farewell, Enniskillen, farewell for a while
To all your fair waters and every green isle,
Your green isles will flourish and your fair waters flow,
And I from old Ireland an exile must go.

Her hair is as brown as the young raven's wing,
Her eyes are as clear as the blue bells of Spring,
And light was her laugh like the sun on the sea,
Till the weight of the world came between her and me.

O what can man do when the world is his foe,
And the looks of her people fall on you like snow?
But bend the brow boldly and fare away far
To follow good fortune and win fame in the War.

They'll tell how we fought on a far foreign shore,
And she'll know that in danger I loved her the more,
When the swords flashed aloft and the swift bullets flew—
I saw your sweet countenance and dear eyes of blue!

If the worst should befall—sure 'tis only to die,
And the true lass that loved me can hold her head high,—
Can hold her head high, though the fond heart may break,
For her lover loved bravely and died for her sake.

Then, farewell Enniskillen, farewell for a while
And all around the borders of Erin's green isle,—
But, if Fortune do favour, I'll return again soon
And you'll all welcome home the Enniskillen Dragoon.