To Youth (My Sweet Roisin Dubh)

Tell me, why must a man be of service To his lord and the god seldom high? From the grave spring the name of our fathers But there's no glint in a dead man's eye Tell me, why are our fields filled with hunger And fruitless the crop, bitter soil? So, I say my farewell to a nation As the leaf waves goodbye to it's son So, it's to youth I sing you this story And it's of youth I sing it now Like the train that derails without warning I must leave what I left far behind So, goodbye, sweet Roisin Dubh I say goodbye Tell me, why must our peace be this puzzle That fractures the land, splinters war? The last nails cite the shame in our coffin But in the end we must all die alone So, it's to youth I sing you this story And it's of youth I sing it now Like the train that derails without warning Some must leave what they left far behind So, goodbye, sweet Roisin Dubh I say goodbye And the bark fell from tree to the ground that now bleed On the anguish that never learned to shout With the clash of the drum, we'll surrender the gun And on this sadness we shall no longer speak Until tank and the bomb are but all forgotten songs That's when I and we will sing again So, goodbye to my love, my sweet Roisin Dubh Goodbye now until we meet again Tell me, why must our grief still be grieving For a language that never spoke its loss? But this tongue speak with fire will tear down the barb wire Rip the belly from the waxy ghost So, it's to youth I sing you this story And it's of youth I sing it now Like the train that derails without warning We must leave what we left far behind So, it's to youth I sing you this story And it's of youth I sing it now Like the train that derails without warning We must leave what we left far behind So, goodbye, sweet Roisin Dubh I say goodbye So, goodbye, sweet Roisin Dubh I say goodbye Until we meet again Until we meet again Until we meet again She arrives to beautify But slumber now must rest Oh, my Roisin Dubh, I'll forever love The youth you once possessed