Life Goes On Without Me Poem by Francis Duggan

The robin is still singing in the wood at Claramore
And life in old Duhallow it goes on as before
And the farmer has his barn full of silage straw and hay
Feed and bedding for his animals when fields are bare and gray.

The dipper is still singing where the rill and river meet
And the dunnocks are still piping in the hedgerows of Millstreet
And the swallow and the cuckoo return with the Spring
And in leafy groves and woodlets the finches chirp and sing.

And redwings from the northlands arrive before the snow
On cold days in November when weather glass is low
And weather wet and chilly and cold the wild winds blow
And the mountain stream in full flood and the river overflow.

The months and Seasons come and go in April and in May
To chimney nest the jackdaws fly from wood across the way
And chirping sparrows on barn rafters keep busy all the day
Lining their nest with feathers an untidy ball of hay.

In Millstreet life goes on without me and in the groves near Millstreet Town
The song thrush with the spotted breast and wings of ochre brown
Is carolling in the twilight his distinct notes of joy
I fancy I can hear him still as darkness cloaks the sky.

The skylark he is singing o'er the slopes of Clara hill
And buttercups bloom yellow on green bank of mountain rill
And the common magpie chattering in the morning gray
And life goes on without me in Millstreet far away.