‘Twill soon be spring in Uladh:
But I shall not be near
To hear cuckoos declaring
The name they’re proudly wearing
A name to children dear.

O happy cuckoo tourists!
          I exiled, envy you
Your trips through dell and valley
          Where, a child, I used to dally
Hoping to hear “Coo-coo”.

 I’ve been so long from Uladh
I fear when I return
I’ll seek in vain old faces
Of old friends in old places
          The friends for whom I yearn.

I fear I’ll be forgotten
By all except a few
On entering every dwelling
I’ll cuckoo-like be telling
          My name to neighbours new.

MICHAEL MULLIN, ‘THE BARD OF FOREMASS,
Foremass Lower, Sixmilecross. Co. Tyrone.
Dublin and Cork
8th March ‘59