by Winifred Mary Letts (1882 - 1972)

John Kelly
Language: English 
It was among the cowslips
I saw John Kelly stand,
An old caubeen was on his head,
He’d cowslips in his hand.
He pick’d a big bunch,
I pick’d one too,
But his he laid upon my knee,
Said he, “Them’s thim for you”.
Ah! Warm the sun was shining
That day above Dundrum,
The corncrakes all were shouting,
The blackbirds whistling “Come,”
Clear was the Three-Rock,
Misty the sea,
That time I met John Kelly there,
When first he spoke to me.

We stood among the cowslips,
I heard the cuckoo call,
John Kelly show’d his cabin there
Beyond the granite wall,
A whitewashed cottage
Warm-thatched and small
And then he smiled and said goodbye,
I smiled, and that was all.
The scent of cowslips still brings back
That day above Dundrum,
When corncrakes shouted in the grass,
When blackbirds whistled “Come”.
Still I can see you
There by the gate:
John Kelly, you were five years old,
And I was twenty eight.

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Researcher for this page: Christopher Howell

This text was added to the website: 2020-10-11
Line count: 32
Word count: 164