At Dead o’ the Night, Alanna
At dead o’ the night, alanna, I wake and see you there,
Your little head on the pillow, with tossed and tangled hair;
I am your mother, acushla, and you are my heart’s own boy,
And wealth o’ the world I’d barter to shield you from annoy.
At dead o’ the night, alanna, the heart o’ the world is still,
But sobbing o’ fairy music comes down the haunted hill;
The march o’ the fairy armies troubles the peace o’ the air,
Blest angels shelter my darling for power of a mother’s pray’r!
At dead o’ the night, alanna, the sleepless Banshee moans,
Wailing for sin and sorrow, by the Cairn’s crumbling stones,
At dead o’ the night, alanna, I ask of our God above,
To shield you from sin and sorrow, and cherish you in His love.
At dead o’ the night, alanna, I wonder o’er and o’er,
Shall you part from our holy Ireland, to die on a stranger shore?
You’ll break my heart in the leaving like many a mother I know–
Just God look down upon Erin and lift her at last from woe!
At dead o’ the night, alanna, I see you in future years,
Grand in your strength, and noble, facing the wide world fears;
Though down in the mossy churchyard my bones be under the sod,
My spirit shall watch you, darling, till you come to your rest in God!
