Poem

Moryah

by John O’Brien · 1921

“Wisha, where is he goin’ to nowWith the hat on the back of the poll,And the hair of him curled on the brow,Like a millionaire out for a stroll?”“Ar’, Old Man, but he’s yardin’ the cow.”“Moryah!With the hat on the back of his poll?”
“There’s the red heifer’s calf in the lane,And the gray mare is mad for a bite,And the dog up above on the chainIs shoutin’ and bawlin’ all night.”“Sure, Old Man, you’re keownrawnin’ again.”“Moryah!And that Jim gallivantin’ the night?”
“Yer’, Old Man, but the head of him’s young;And the chubby gossoon with the dartHave the wits of him straightened and strungTo the tune of the song in the heart,With the lilt of it there on the tongue.”“Moryah—And bad luck from the song in the heart!”
“ ’Tis that Casey girl now have him caught,And her mother out baking the bread;It is there she should be, so she ought,With the eyes dancing jigs in her head;Faith, when I was a boy, sure we thought . . .”“Moryah!’Twas yourself had an eye in the head.”
“Don’t I mind the old days that are through,When a boy and a colleen afarFelt the bound and the hurt of it tooAs they swung in a dream on a star—Thiggim-thu, my Old Man, thiggim-thu?”“Ouisha,Poor old woman, ’tis dreamin’ you are.”
Sources, publication & text notesReference details
Canonical recordPOEM-001580
Copy-textAround the Boree Log and Other Verses (1921), Project Gutenberg; IAC and Telelib complete-edition comparisons; selected copy-text retained exactly under D-180/D-208
Source recordSRC-000014
Rights determinationRGT-000234
Text statusCANONICAL TEXT READY
TranscriptionDIPLOMATIC_D208_D180

How texts and rights are checked →

While The Billy Boils · Public-domain text · www.whilethebillyboils.com.au/poems/moryah

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