Is there a man that cares
That I might be spared
Such a life of drudgery
Of digging clay
Tossing cocks of
hay
Wishing all the day
That somehow I could be free
Chorus: O you are a rascal, Tarry Flynn
You're writing poetry instead of digging drills
Strolling around the fields
all day
Won't you ever work or won't you ever stay?
O mother, can't you see
That the farming life
It was never meant for me
To reap and sow
I don't want to know
But
to Dublin go
For that's where my life should be.
Chorus:
Don't come to say goodbye
Mothers always cry
Shake my hand and set me free
When fame has come
To my Dublin
home
Maybe then you'll come there and visit me.