Upon the far and eastern shores
His lady did await;
For him, her knight, so brave, so true,
All night she stayed awake;
That she may be the first to see
His sails upon the bay;
When in glory he came sailing home,
Oh to see the day!

The sun upon the vast blue sea
Was shining clear and free;
The rolling hills so gently green
Were shadowed by the trees;
And upon the tower proud and tall
Still she stood to watch;
That she may be the first to see
The wind his sails caught.

Many friends said then to her,
As she stood and stared;
“Many fine and brave young knights
Here at home are there;
Why don’t you marry one of them
And live with him happily?”
But “Nay,” she said, “I still will wait
For my knight of Inisfree.”

“His hair it shines in the bright sunlight
So bright and fair a gold;
And his heart, I say to you in truth
Is the most gentle of souls;
His eyes are green as the rolling sea
And shining as the dawn;
Oh yes, I’ll wait for my cherished knight
Even as the days grow long.”

Upon the vast and western seas
A storm passed through the skies;
And in its wake it left stranded
A battered boat alight;
With mast splintered and crew careworn
It rocked upon the flow;
And in its bow a tall knight stood
With green eyes all aglow.

“We must go back,” the captain said,
“To port at Tair’awaite”;
But the proud knight quick shook his head
“My lady, she awaits”;
“I must return to her home shores
And her father’s grand halls;
For glory have I won abroad
And for her was it all.”

“Her beauty is like the rising moon
Over the rolling sea;
Her eyes are clear and gray as waves
That crash upon the beach;
Her hair is dark as the clear night sky
Over the mountain peaks;
And gentle as the dawn is she,
Kind to strong and weak.”

And so he turned to ship’s captain
A fire in his eyes;
“I must go back,” he said again,
“To my lady of the isles;
We must depart in all our haste
That she may wait no more”;
And the captain looked upon his face
And saw his heart was sore.

“Very well,” he said at last,
“to your lady we shall go;
But I shall not in danger put
My brave crew or my boat”;
The knight agreed, and so they set
What sails they had to east;
And hoped that their repairs would hold
Upon the changing sea.

Long and late his lady stood
Upon the tower’s heights;
And the long wait it began in her
To stir up a great fright;
That he whom she loved so dear
Had perished upon the seas;
And never would come sailing home
To put her heart at ease.

More days passed, and in her heart
She began now to despair;
Would her knight come sailing home
To see her again there?;
And then at last the clear day came
When the skies were blue;
And she glimpsed upon the bay’s far reach
White sails clear and true.

Straight to her father’s castle’s dock
The fair boat swiftly sailed;
Her mother tried to hold her back,
But to no avail;
Into her lover’s arms she leaped
As he stepped onto the quay;
Their shining hair swirled in the stiffening wind,
Dark night and golden day.

Swiftly down on one knee went
Her knight upon the sand;
“My lady,” he said, “I love you so,
I would ask for your hand”;
“Yes!” she cried, and drew him up,
Her eyes shining like stars;
And there upon the beach they kissed,
In the light of the rosy dawn.