I saw her first when the sun had burst
Out from the blanket grey.
The glint of her eye, as she passed me by
Had stopped me on my way.
Her golden hair framed her beauty fair,
And her sigh was a summer's breeze
My breath was stole by this buxom rogue
As she skipped along the quay.
When I turned to go, little did I know
That she had spied me too.
For the Lord knows why heaven’s angels cry
Or why she chanced to meet this fool.
Well I took her hand as we walked the strand
And the sun peaked out above.
And the springtime green, smiled on mockingly
At the budding of our love.
Our young court was brief, but in full belief
I knew we were happy there.
So on bended knee, ‘midst the autumn leaves
Her yes carried on the air.
How the lightning flashed and the thunder clashed
In my mind like ne’er before.
Maligned skies dispelled, as the hand I held,
Would be mine forevermore
We were not to linger, gold placed on her finger
And a baby in the womb,
As the seasons passed, the rain it clashed
With the happiness of our bloom.
Oh I held her tight, as the frosts harsh bite
Nipped her fingers and her toes.
With our clothes threadbare, the sight of money rare,
We darned love to patch the holes.
Days of joys were spent, love unprecedent
Shone on each day of the year.
But weather’s changing fast, they were not to last
As the storm clouds gathered near
When the illness came, I turned to God to blame.
His grey clouds obscured our sun.
And with a solemn head, the old doctor said
There was nothing to be done.
As the sickness broke, my poor heart was choked
With the fear of coming days.
Between her and child, they said one must die.
Only God can know His ways.
Her eyes showered rain on the pallored plains,
On those fields of roses blush.
With her comfort spurned, how her stomach churned
And each fever brought a flush.
My love’s face so gaunt, her skeletal haunt
Would dwindle between these worlds,
She chose her life to give, so our child might live
But she never held our girl.
An October’s night, it brought such a sight,
That I wished to never see.
For my Eileen laid in her coffin bed
Gone my life, so viciously.
How the sun burned cruel, though my heart was cooled,
An icy chill coursed through my veins,
As they lowered her down, six feet in the ground,
To be seen never again.
Now grief breaks in waves, flowers deck her grave
And surround her turtledove.
I ponder in my mind, such a simple sign
Tells the world she died for love.
And the rain comes hard, in this old churchyard
As I kneel down at her feet.
For her marble stone is now all that’s known
Of my love I chanced to meet
On that sunny day, in the month of May
As I took her heart for mine.
Now our baby girl, with her golden curls
Skips along in warm sunshine.