Eileen Aroon

Trad

I know a valley fair, Eileen Aroon
I know a cottage there, Eileen Aroon
Far in the valley shade I know a tender maid
Flow’r of the hazel glade, Eileen Aroon

Who in the song so sweet, Eileen Aroon
Who in the dance so fleet, Eileen Aroon
Dear are her charms to me, dearer her laughter free
Dearest her constancy, Eileen Aroon

Were she no longer true, Eileen Aroon
What would her lover do, Eileen Aroon
Fly with a broken chain, far o’er the sounding main
Never to love again, Eileen Aroon

Youth will in time decay, Eileen Aroon
Beauty must fade away, Eileen Aroon
Castles are sacked in war, chieftains are scattered far
Truth is a fixed star, Eileen Aroon

In the original Gaelic version of this song there was a long tragic love story involved. In the later version written in English only the universal sentiments of love and change remain. Few finer verses have been written than that beginning, Youth will in time decay.