Classic Poem

It was among the cowslips
I saw John Kelly stand,
An old caubeen was on his head,
He'd cowslips in his hand.
He picked a big bunch,
I picked one too,
But his he laid upon my knee.
Said he, " There'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 showed his cabin there
Beyond the granite wall,
A white-washed cottage
Warm-thatched and small,
And then he smiled and said good-bye,
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.