That Feeling Of Nostalgia Poem by Francis Duggan

On gum tree branch the magpie is piping in the rain
And that strange feeling akin to sadness has come to me again
But it's not the magpie singing nor is it solitude
That causes me to lapse into this temporary mood.

Some call my mood nostalgia or call it what you may
But every time I see the rain I feel so far away
And I go back to Ireland to Ireland in the Spring
On garden tree in wind and rain the robin he did sing.

Where is that little robin that little redbreast now
Who sang outside my window on the green cypress bough?
Perhaps the Irish Winter claimed him before he grew too old
And his Springs were not too many he perished in the cold.

Why should I pine for Ireland what has Ireland done for me
Or is it just a human fault to love one's own Country?
But I'm not patriotic and for any Country I'd not die
I'd rather live and sing the praises of braver men than I.

The white backed Australian magpie pipes in the wind and rain
And that feeling of nostalgia sweeps over me again
And I am back in Ireland in Ireland miles away
And robin he is singing on a wet and windy day.