Erin’s Green Shore

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I quickly addressed this fair female,

“My jewel, come tell me your name,

For here in this land you’re a stranger,

Or I would not have asked you the same.”

She looked like the Goddess of Freedom

And Liberty’s mantle she wore

And she sighed for the wrongs of her country

As she strayed along Erin’s green shore.

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“I know you’re a true son to Gráinne,

So my secrets to you I’ll unfold,

For here, in the midst of all danger

Not knowing my friends from my foes.

I’m a daughter of Daniel O’Connell,

And from England I lately come o’er,

I have come to awaken my brethren

That slumber on Erin’s green shore.”

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Her eyes were like two sparkling diamonds

Or the stars of a cold frosty night;

Her cheeks were two blooming roses

Her teeth of the ivory so white.

She resembled the Goddess of Freedom,

And green was the mantle she wore,

Bound ‘round with the shamrock and roses

That grow along Erin’s green shore.

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In transports of joy I awakened,

And found I had been in a dream;

For this beautiful damsel had fled me,

And I longing to slumber again.

May the heavens above be her guardian,

For I know I shall see her no more;

May the sunbeams of glory shine o’er her

As she strays along Erin’s green shore.