• Michael Mullins
  • Michael "The Bard" Mullin
  • "The Bard of Foremass"
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    Poems
    Sad Songs are the Songs for Me

    O’ harper gray, sing not for me
    Your songs of glee and gladness;
    But strike your harp-strings mournfully,
    And sing me a song of sadness;
    Gay music seems with its mirth to taunt
    And mock my misery;
    Music of sorrow soothes sorrow best –
    Sad songs are the songs for me.

    Sing a song of exiles tempest-tost;
    Or true-love’s tragic story;
    Or of patriots who fought and lost,
    But whose names live on in glory.
    Sing of fond dreams and high hopes laid low
    By the frost of penury;
    The song of mourning suits mourners best –
    Sad songs are the songs for me.

    Sweeter to me than the larks June song
    Is the small voice of the robin,
    That sits and sings on a lonely grave
    While winter winds go sobbin’
    October’s dirge for the dead brown leaves,
    Or the sad song of the sea –
    Such songs of mourning suit mourners best –
    Sad songs are the songs for me.

    O’ sing of the sorrows of the Gael –
    The sorrows which I can share in;
    And draw from your harp’s sweet-sounding strings
    Pathetic airs of Eirinn.
    For I’m a Gael, with a sad, sad heart;
    So sing not your songs of glee;
    Music of sorrow soothes sorrow best –
    Sad songs are the songs for me.

    Michael Mullin ‘The Bard of Foremass’
    Foremass Lower, Sixmilecross, Co Tyrone.