AIR--_The Swaggering Jig._ <br /> <br /> <br />I. <br /> <br />Oh! the marriage, the marriage, <br />With love and _mo bhuachaill_ for me, <br />The ladies that ride in a carriage <br />Might envy my marriage to me; <br />For Eoghan is straight as a tower, <br />And tender, and loving, and true; <br />He told me more love in an hour <br />Than the Squires of the county could do. <br />Then, Oh! the marriage, etc. <br /> <br /> <br />II. <br /> <br />His hair is a shower of soft gold, <br />His eye is as clear as the day, <br />His conscience and vote were unsold <br />When others were carried away; <br />His word is as good as an oath, <br />And freely 'twas given to me; <br />Oh! sure, 'twill be happy for both <br />The day of our marriage to see. <br />Then, Oh! the marriage, etc. <br /> <br /> <br />III. <br /> <br />His kinsmen are honest and kind, <br />The neighbours think much of his skill, <br />And Eoghan's the lad to my mind, <br />Though he owns neither castle nor mill. <br />But he has a tilloch of land, <br />A horse, and a stocking of coin, <br />A foot for a dance, and a hand <br />In the cause of his country to join. <br />Then, Oh! the marriage, etc. <br /> <br /> <br />IV. <br /> <br />We meet in the market and fair-- <br />We meet in the morning and night-- <br />He sits on the half of my chair, <br />And my people are wild with delight; <br />Yet I long through the winter to skim, <br />Though Eoghan longs more I can see, <br />When I will be married to him, <br />And he will be married to me. <br />Then, Oh! the marriage, the marriage, <br />With love and _mo bhuachaill_ for me, <br />The ladies that ride in a carriage, <br />Might envy my marriage to me.<br /><br />Thomas Osborne Davis<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/oh-the-marriage/
