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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Authorship:
- by Winifred Mary Letts (1882 - 1972) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "John Kelly", op. 125 (Four songs) no. 1 (1911), published 1911 [ voice and piano ], Stainer & Bell [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Christopher Howell
This text was added to the website: 2020-10-11
Line count: 32
Word count: 164