Lad of the Curly Locks Lad of the curly locks Who used to be once my darling, You passed the house last night And never bothered calling. Little enough ’twould harm you To comfort me and I crying, When a single kiss from you Would save me and I dying. If only I had the means ’Tis little I’d think of giving To make a lane of my own To the place where my lad 'is living, Trusting in God that I’d hear The sound of his hasty paces, For I’m many a night awake, Longing for his embraces. I thought you were sun and moon When first I met you, my darling, And then you seemed to me Like snow on the hills at morning, And after that I was sure You were God’s own lantern swaying Or the North Star over my head To keep my foot from straying. You said I’d have shawls and shoes, Satin and silk hereafter, And said if I went away You’d follow me through the water, But now an old bush in a gap Is all that you are leaving, As I mind my father’s house At morning and at evening. Source: O'Connor, Frank (tr); Kings, Lords, & Commons: An Anthology from the Irish; 1962; London; Macmillan & Co; p.129