I May Live Far South Poem by Francis Duggan

I may live far south of Hibernia's shore
And the road out of Millstreet that leads to Rathmore
But I can see the lark from the rank bracken rise
To sing o'er the hillside when I visualize.

Our thoughts unrestricted do have wings to fly
And take us to where we lived in years gone by
The great gift of memory a wonderful thing
To us times of joy and of sadness does bring.

But happy times serve as the best memories of all
And walks in the old fields I often recall
When the nesting song birds did whistle and sing
And the wildflowers did bloom in the prime of the Spring.

Above the brown bogland melodious and clear
The flute of the curlew I fancy I hear
Blended in her surroundings his brown partner broods the blotched eggs she did lay
From predators eyes so well hidden away.

So lovely to hear and so lovely to see
The pink breasted chaffinch on a silver birch tree
When hawthorns are in their white blooms of the May
In the quiet of the dawn of a beautiful day.

In fancy I hear and see the mountain rill
Flowing in the old fields within view of the hill
On down towards the river it ever does flow
By ditch and by grove and many a hedgerow.