'SURE OF A BED...'

' Old Woman with a Shawl and a

Walking-Stick' by Vincent

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This is a poem I remember learning at school. It tells the story of an old travelling woman who wishes for her own little house where she can spend her remaining days sheltered from the wind and rain. This piece is also a favourite of my Aunt Bridie who can recite it from memory at the drop of a hat at any social gathering, so this is dedicated to her…GOSH.

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THE OLD WOMAN

OF THE ROADS

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O, to have a little house!

To own the hearth and stool and all!

The heaped up sods against the fire,

The pile of turf against the wall!

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To have a clock with weights and chains

And pendulum swinging up and down!

A dresser filled with shining delph,

Speckled and white and blue and brown!

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I could be busy all the day

Clearing and sweeping hearth and floor,

And fixing on their shelf again

My white and blue and speckled store!

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I could be quiet there at night

Beside the fire and by myself,

Sure of a bed and loth to leave

The ticking clock and the shining delph!

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Och! but I'm weary of mist and dark,

And roads where there's never a house nor bush,

And tired I am of bog and road,

And the crying wind and the lonesome hush!

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And I am praying to God on high,

And I am praying Him night and day,

For a little house - a house of my own

Out of the wind's and the rain's way.

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Padraic Colum