Thomas Osborne Davis

The Welcome

Come in the evening, or come in the morning;
Come when you ’re look’d for, or come without warning:
Kisses and welcome you ’ll find here before you,
And the oftener you come here the more I ’ll adore you!
Light is my heart since the day we were plighted;
Red is my cheek that they told me was blighted;
The green of the trees looks far greener than ever,
And the linnets are singing, “True lovers don’t sever!”

I ’ll pull you sweet flowers, to wear if you choose them,
Or, after you’ve kiss’d them, they ’ll lie on my bosom;
I ’ll fetch from the mountain its breeze to inspire you;
I ’ll fetch from my fancy a tale that won’t tire you.
Oh! your step’s like the rain to the summer-vex’d farmer,
Or sabre and shield to a knight without armor;
I ’ll sing you sweet songs till the stars rise above me,
Then, wandering, I ’ll wish you in silence to love me.

We ’ll look through the trees at the cliff and the eyrie;
We ’ll tread round the rath on the track of the fairy;
We ’ll look on the stars, and we ’ll list to the river,
Till you ask of your darling what gift you can give her:
Oh! she ’ll whisper you “Love, as unchangeably beaming,
And trust, when in secret, most tunefully streaming;
Till the starlight of heaven above us shall quiver,
As our souls flow in one down eternity’s river.”

So come in the evening, or come in the morning;
Come when you ’re looked for, or come without warning:
Kisses and welcome you ’ll find here before you,
And the oftener you come here the more I ’ll adore you!
Light is my heart since the day we were plighted;
Red is my cheek that they told me was blighted;
The green of the trees looks far greener than ever,
And the linnets are singing, “True lovers don’t sever!”