The Exile’s Song

Oh! why left I my hame?   Why did I cross the deep? Oh! why left I the land   Where my forefathers sleep? I sigh for Scotia’s shore,   And I gaze across the sea, But I canna get a blink   O’ my ain countrie. The palm-tree waveth high,   And fair the myrtle springs; And, to the Indian maid,   The bulbul sweetly sings. But I dinna see the broom   Wi’ its tassels on the lee, Nor hear the lintie’s sang   O’ my ain countrie. Oh! here no Sabbath bell   Awakes the Sabbath morn, Nor song of reapers heard   Among the yellow corn: For the tyrant’s voice is here,   And the wail of slaverie; But the sun of freedom shines   In my ain countrie. There ’s a hope for every woe,   And a balm for every pain, But the first joys o’ our heart   Come never back again. There ’s a track upon the deep,   And a path across the sea: But the weary ne’er return   To their ain countrie.