Ar ais
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The Miner Tadhg Ó Muiris, 1999 |
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The scarred granite waves heave their shoulders and roll 'Neath the death-grip of the white pines clinging Where the gale that was frozen long ages ago Still troubles the sea of the Shield. Yet down in the mineshaft no tempest rages; But the cables scream and haul the cages, And drill-bits can shatter the silence of ages On stones the sun never revealed. When I was a boy I would wander the shore Through the green of spring and autumn's fires, But the home that I knew by the Ottawa's roar O, I had to leave it behind. So I took the train out of Pembroke station The Porcupine my destination To the wolfe and the lynx's remote habitation And there to find work in the mines. My mother and father I left on that day And my brother dear, who'll get the farm The acres to work 'neath the smiling sun's rays Till the stars bejewel the sky. But two miles down 'mid the dark's fell power In memories bright I delve for hours Where I made my goodbyes in that green wooded bower To the girl that's still haunting my mind. I remember the fragrance of that dewy night As we lay entwined, our heartbeats whispering Her red hair ablaze in the pale moon's soft light As her breast like the tide gently rolled. But dawn from blackness no sun can sever Where it's always night and morning never And my helmet-lamp's beacon illuminates ever The earth's stoney bowels of gold. |