Classic Poem

House and housing either hand, down here!
Hush you in this calm townland, down here!
There they rest at noon and night,
Twice a spade-length out of sight,
Down here.

Sleep you all and sleep you well, down here?
Have you not a word to tell, down here?
Who have spun and set and sown
In the homes and holms you've known,
Yet you seem to like it well,
Down here.

Oonah, Norah, Ishabel, down here,
Have you anything to tell, down here?
Light hands at the spinning wheel,
Feet as light to foot a reel,
Oonah, Norah, Ishabel,
Down here.

Murtagh, Dermod, Donal Dhu, down here,
Is it well, bold boys, for you, down here?
At the pattern, dance and fair,
Girls, full-bosomed, miss you there,
And they wait in vain for you
Down here.

Farley, Peadar, Eamon Wor, down here,
You have neither stock nor store down here.
Heavy-headed corn and rye
Swathe the fields of years gone by,
Farley, Peadar, Eamon Wor,
Down here.

Tell me, do you like the place, down here?
Men of mettle, girls of grace, down here?
Does your heart not long once more
For the fair, the dancing floor?
Woe and Joy have not a place
Down here.

House and housing either hand, down here!
Hush you in this calm townland, down here!
Here they rest at noon and night
Twice a spade-length out of sight,