The Green Linnet

Curiosity bore a young native of Erin
To view the gay banks of the Rhine
There an empress he saw and the robes she was wearing
All over with diamonds did shine
A goddess in splendor was never yet seen
To equal this fair one so mild and serene
In soft murmur she says my linnet so green
Are you gone will I never see you more

The cold lofty Alps you freely went over
Which nature had placed in your way
That Marengo Saloney around you did hover
And Paris rejoiced the next day
It grieves me the hardships you did undergo
The mountains you travelled all covered with snow
The balance of power your courage laid low
You are gone I will never see you more
The crowned heads of Europe when you were in splendor
Fain they would have had you submit
But the goddess of freedom soon bid them surrender
And lower the standard to your wit
Old Frederick's colors to France you did bring
Yet his offspring found shelter under your wing
That year in Virginia you sweetly did sing
Are you gone will I never see you more

The numbers of men that were eager to slay you
Their malice you viewed with a smile
Their gold through all Europe they sowed to betray you
And they joined the Mamelukes on the Nile
Like ravens for blood their vile passions did burn
The orphans they slew and caused widows to mourn
They say my linnet's gone and n'er will return
He is gone will I never see him more

When the trumpet of war the grand blast was sounding
You marched to the north with good will
To relieve the poor slaves in their vile sack clothing
You used your exertion and skill
You spread out the wings of your envied train
When tyrants great Caesar's old nest set in flames
Their own subjects they caused to eat herbs on the plains
Are you gone will I never see you more

In great Waterloo where numbers laid sprawling
In every field high or low
Fame on her trumpets the Frenchmen were calling
Fresh laurels to place on her brow
Usurpers did tremble to hear that loud call
The third babe's fine new buildings did fall!
The Spaniards their fleet in the harbor did call
Are you gone will I never see you more

I'll roam the deserts of wild Abyssinia
And yet find no cure for my pain
I'll go and enquire on the Isle of St. Helena
No there we will whisper in vain
Now tell me ye critics now tell me in time
The nation I'll range my sweet linnet to find
Was he slain at Waterloo or at Elba on the Rhine
If he was I shall never see him more

From Songs the Whalemen Sang, Huntington
Note: The Green Linnet, needless to say, was Napoleon. The Irish
liked him. RG

RG