O’LEARY’S LAMENT

The following little lament may be truthful, if not poetical. It expresses the feelings of my Irish friend, Thomas O’Leary, late of Innisowen.

I WISH I was in Innisowen,
In Michael Hennessy’s ould shebeen.
’Tis there I’d see bright wathers flowin’
Wid shamrock green an’ roses blowin’—
For-bye a noggin of ould poteen.

Me heart is sick wid this paradin’
Of all the wimmin upon the sthreet,
While they are on the town crusadin’
The fires upon the hearth are fadin’,
The gossoons cry wid cowld bare feet

Oh let us dhrink—in moderation,
To aise our sadness an’ banish gloom.
Sure, many a glutton in this nation
While praychin’ temp’rance and salvation
Has ate himself into the tomb.