The Irish standard., 1908-11-21
An Irish Mother.

Nc'cr d sosoon in the parish with my
Terry could compare.
Ne'er a one was half so clover ne'er
one SO kind and fair.
to comfort me
When he took away his father and his
baby brothers three.
l: was him could play the fiddle. and
he'd play it of night
Sittin' there before the fire, and yc're
heart it would delight:
Strangers came to hear him playin,
and when lcavin they'd declare:
"Ic must send him to the city-fam,
and wealth he'd soon win there"
Well. one day he got message from
n place called London Town,
And he said that in playhouse a po-
sston lie had foun:
Sure he looked so proud and happy
that tried to hide my tears.
And l told him he might leave mc-,,y
lad of eighteen years!
And I watched him gettin ready, bu.
a word 1 never spoke:
When l whispered God be with ye,"
och. l thought that would choke.
And l stood there by the window
and he walkin' down the lane.
Till he went around the turnin' at the
foot of Lisnahane
For a while he wrote me letters sayia'
he was doin' grand:
Men of money and fine ladies', they
were proud to shake his hand
But ochone! he ceased the writin' ere
he'd been a year away,
And twas then my sorrow started. and
! fretted night and day.
Och! twas then that was loncs ,,ne,
and at night I'd lie awake,
Thinkin'. thinkin'. of his absence, til
my heart would almost break.
And the days seemed long and dismal,
and the work all fell behind
Sure l never could have managed Only
for the neighbours kind.
Once l asked Il passin' tourist il lie 4
ever met my lad,
And my heart was wildly bcatin' when
he answered that he had.
Is he well?' says l. land happy"
hnt ho nn1,, ch !,
And I nearly fell and tainted. TO-. I
thought that he was dead
Hes alive, ma'am,' says the stranger,
Il am telln' ye what's true'
He tried his best to hide it, but I
found out all he knew
He said Terry was a spendthrift, anl
drunliard, and far worse.
And only used Gods blessed name to
blaspheme and to curse.
But my love was strong as ever, and I
prayed both night and noon.
Askin' God to guido and guard hirl,
and to send him to me soon;
Askin' that my boy from danger ana
from sudden death He'd save,
And that he might never slumber in a
far-otf Goddess grave.
All Gods holy saints and angels often
times I asked their aid
And the Blessed Virgin Mary, twas to
her ! mostly prayed,
For she knows &; mothers fcelin's-all
the longin. hope, and pain.
And no broken-hearted woman ever
sought her help in vain.
Twas night in carly summer; 1 wls
sittin' here alone,
Listn'nin' to the river rushin', and the
winds that seemed to moan.
Nc'er a voice was there to cheer me
but the barlzin' of some dog,
And the corncrallcs in the meadow,
and the curlews in the bog.
And at once I heard his footsteps
heard him comm thro' the gate.
And I rushed out in the darkness 70.
I couldn't bear to wait.
And I clasped him. and I kissed MIN
but he'd only sob and sigh.
When I led him to the freight could
see he soon would die.
God called him one vii mornin' at the
fallin' of the leaf,
And thanked the Blessed Virgin even
| in my widest grief,
For the priest was by his bedside when
his dyin' breath he drew,
And they said the De Profund,ls DER
his grave at Killaroo.
!. can see it from the boreen, Just oe-
side the ruined wall.
And it's seldom I am lonesome, AMI l
| never Cry at all.
For Id rather have him yonder. lyin
In his holy bed
Than away among tn, strangers with {,
crown upon his head.
Frank M'Manus in the Dublin FREQ