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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE BOUCHALEEN BAWN (THE FAIR-HAIRED LITTLE BOY); A SPINNING DUET, by PATRICK JOSEPH MCCALL Poet's Biography First Line: I went to the wood when the morning was breaking Last Line: Now find me and bind me my bouchaleen bawn! Subject(s): Spinning | |||
MAUREEN I WENT to the wood when the morning was breaking, Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! The lark a new song for true lovers was making; And whom did I meet but my Bouchaleen bawn! CAUTH To meet Shaun O'Farrell you roved thro' the wildwood! Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! The love of your prime is the love of your childhood -- So take him and make him your Bouchaleen bawn! MAUREEN 'T was not Shaun O'Farrell I went to meet therein; Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! With a gad on his back let him plough over Erinn; Then find me and bind me my Bouchaleen bawn! CAUTH Alas, fickle colleen, where can you find better? Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! He sings a sweet song, and he writes a kind letter -- So take him and make him your Bouchaleen bawn! MAUREEN I like song and letter, not writer or singer; Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! And so for a better much longer I'd linger -- So find me and bind me my Bouchaleen bawn! CAUTH You went to the greenwood to meet Mike O'Malley, Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! Who whistles a jig as he rides down the valley -- So take him and make him your Bouchaleen bawn! MAUREEN I'd love him and prove him and hold him for ever; Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! But he is too stupid, or I am too clever -- So find me and bind me my Bouchaleen bawn! CAUTH Yet go with the dull if he be but good-hearted; Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! By east and by west may you never be parted, You'll take him and make him your Bouchaleen bawn! MAUREEN The song-bird would pine in the smoke and the smother; Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! Go east and go west till you chance on another; And find me and bind me my Bouchaleen bawn! CAUTH For Donal O'Falvey you'd roam the world over -- Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! Tho' many his darlings, you may be his lover -- So take him and make him your Bouchaleen bawn! MAUREEN Ah, Sheevaun O'Kelly would tear out my tresses, Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! If Donal should venture to seek my caresses -- Come, find me and bind me my Bouchaleen bawn! CAUTH That jewel is rarest whose finding was hardest! Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! That cargo is dearest whose journey was farthest, So take him and make him your Bouchaleen bawn! MAUREEN No tree ever grew but 'twas matched by another; Oro, the Ring o' the Dawn! And the King of the Forest is Brian, your brother! Now find me and bind me my Bouchaleen bawn! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IRISH INTERIOR by EAVAN BOLAND THE IRISH SPINNING-WHEEL by ALFRED PERCEVAL GRAVES A SPINNING SONG by JOHN FRANCIS O'DONNELL THE SPINNING-WHEEL [SONG] by JOHN FRANCIS WALLER THE MAIDS OF ELFIN-MERE by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM THE SPINNER by CLARA DOTY BATES THE SPINNING-WHEEL (YONDERLAND SONG) by LYA BERGER BIARTEY'S SPINNING SONG, FR. THE RIDING TO LITHEND by GORDON BOTTOMLEY A YEAR'S SPINNING by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING DUNLANG O'HARTIGAN: LAMENT OF AOIBHELL, THE FAIRY QUEEN by PATRICK JOSEPH MCCALL HERSELF AND MYSELF; AN OLD MAN'S SONG by PATRICK JOSEPH MCCALL |
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