Farewell, farewell, to my native home, those shores to see no more
farewell, farewell to my own true love, abandoned at the door
not by my will i leave my land, but the poor law's cold decree
and i my birthright most forego, to cross the stormy sea
The passage it was long and dire, 'til we docked at new orleans
and those of us who did survive, were cast on fevered streets
i made my way from job to job, until i had the fare
to take me to the great divide and the rocky mountain air
For i craved to scale the highest peak, my lost heart yearning east
in hopes a vision i might see, of my beloved island green
as if my soul could fly me home, across the ocean deep
and ease the keening of a heart, cast out on stormy seas
I worked the darns and railroads, the timber and the mines
i wrote to ireland year for year, 'til there was no one left to write
if ireland can be my home no more, there will be no home for me
i'll drift like the wind from keep to keep, a wild and rootless seed
And come each day at sunrise, as the long years pass me by
i'll gaze across the troubled waves, and drearn of my green isle
for longing is a tender song, that can never, ever cease
the keening of a lonely heart, cast out on stormy seas