Late Spring Far Away

Late Spring far away by the road to Macroom The hawthorns cloaked in their white blossoms in bloom And in the leafy groves the nesting songbirds whistle and sing On a beautiful day in the Duhallow and Muskerry Spring Out of wintering sheds on months of eating silage and hay The contented cattle on nutritious young grass gaining weight by the day And the voice of the cuckoo so pleasant to hear On what is a beautiful time of the year The dark barn swallows chirp as in pursuit of flying insects they do fly Above the old fields their young will be flying with them in July In October they will fly far south where the weather is warm and fine To pursue flying insects who to live need sunshine In May far away the old fields wear their flowers And the countryside lush and green after recent Spring showers And the trout quite relaxed in the pools of the stream Bask in the sunshine their spotted skins agleam.