O Arranmore, loved Arranmore,
How oft I dream of thee,
And of those days when by thy shore
I wandered young and free!
Full many a path I've tried since then,
Through pleasure's flowery maze,
But ne'er could find the bliss again
I felt in those sweet days.

How blithe upon the breezy cliffs
At sunny morn I've stood,
With heart as bounding as the skiffs
That danced along the flood!
Or when the western wave grew bright
With daylight's parting wing,
Have sought that Eden in its light
Which dreaming poets sing, —

That Eden where the immortal brave
Dwell in a land serene,
Whose bowers beyond the shining wave,
At sunset, oft are seen;
Ah, dream, too full of saddening truth!
Those mansions o'er the main
Are like the hopes I built in youth, —
As sunny and as vain!