Where Finnow

In the flat fields the rushes in clusters does grow Where Finnow the white river to the Blackwater flow Behind the gray clouds the sun hidden away It is wet, windy and cold in Duhallow and Sliabh Luachra today February in Ireland a cold and wet time of the year Where birdsong is something that one does not hear The soughing of the wind in bare deciduous trees And the weather temperatures just above zero degrees Cattle in farmyard sheds bellowing for silage or hay They have been in sheds since November and in sheds have to stay Until the milder winds ofApril grass growth to the fields will bring And deciduous trees will sprout their new leaves of the Spring In February in Ireland near the calendar Spring In the bare windswept groves one does not hear the birds sing But Spring is approaching with the dawning of each day To bring flowers to the old fields by the birth of May From the Boggeraghs Mountains in their hats of snow There is cold in the rain when the howling winds blow Above the old fields where the rushes in clusters does grow Where Finnow the white river to the Blackwater flow.