Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

O'FARRELL THE FIDDLER, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: Now, thin, what has become of thady o'farrell


Now, thin, what has become
Of Thady O'Farrell ?
The honest poor man,
What's delayin' him, why?
O, the thrush should be dumb,
And the lark cease to carol,
Whin his music began
To comether the sky.


Three summers have gone
Since we've missed you, O'Farrell
From the weddin' and patron
And fair on the green.n hour to St. John
We'll light up the tar-barrel,
But ourselves we're not flatter'n'
That thin you'll be seen.


O, Thady, we've watched
And we've waited for ever
To see your ould self
Steppin' into the town-
Wid your corduroys patched
So clane and so clever,
And the pride of a Guelph
In your smile or your frown-


Till some one used say,
"Here's Thady O'Farrell;"
And "God bless the good man!
Let's go meet him," we cried;
And wid this from their play,
And wid that from their quarrel,
All the little ones ran
To be first at your side.


Soon amongst us you'd stand,
Wid the ould people's blessin',
As they leant from the door
To look out at you pass;
Wid the colleen's kiss-hand,
And the childer's caressin',
And the boys fightin', sure,
Which'd stand your first glass.


Thin you'd give us the news
Out of Cork and Killarney-
Had O'Shea married yet?-
Was ould Mack still at work?-
Shine's political views-
Barry's last bit of blarney-
And the boys you had met
On their way to New York.


And whin, from the sight
Of our say-frontin' village,
The far frownin' Blasquet
Stole into the shade,
And the warnin' of night
Called up from the tillage
The girl wid her basket,
The boy wid his spade-


By the glowin' turf-fire,
Or the harvest moon's glory,
In the close-crowded ring
That around you we made,
We'd no other desire
Than your heart-thrillin' story,
Or the song that you'd sing,
Or the tune that you played.


Till you'd ax, wid a leap
From your seat in the middle,
And a shuffle and slide
Of your foot on the floor,
"Will we try a jig-step,
Boys and girls, to the fiddle?"
"Faugh a ballagh," we cried,
"For a jig to be sure."


For whinever you'd start
Jig or planxty so merry,
Wid their caperin' twirls
And their rollickin' runs,
Where's the heel or the heart
In the Kingdom of Kerry
Of the boys and the girls
Wasn't wid you at once?


So you'd tune wid a sound
That arose as delightin'
As our own colleen's voice,
So sweet and so clear,
As she coyly wint round,
Wid a curtsey invitin'
The best of the boys
For the fun to prepare.


For a minute or so,
Till the couples were ready,
On your shoulder and chin
The fiddle lay quiet;
Then down came your bow
So quick and so steady,
And away we should spin
To the left or the right!






Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net