Across the dewy morning hills of Eireann   Rode Niamh Chinn Oir on a snow-white steed   To Oisin fairy poet of the Fianna   For she fain would this mortal wed      Come with me to the fairy land of Tir Na Nog   For I have long loved you said she   And Oisin taken with her beauty   He bade farewell to his company      They rode through stormy regions far across the sea   To a land where time had ne'er its harvest reaped   And for an age there Oisin lived contented   Till longing for his comrades made him weep      I cannot help but read these sad dreams in your eyes   So you may return to your country   And take my blessing with this one command   Do not dismount from you fairy steed      But when at last he reached that misty island   So strange a sight did meet his puzzled frown   For Oisin rode as a giant among the people   And nowhere were the Fianna to be found      He learned from a gathering of workers   Together straining with a heavy load   That centuries before his friends had perished   Which painful tidings filled him with despair      As payment for the news that we have told you   Pray help us with this heavy stone to move   For if your strength should match your mighty stature   Scarce more than a touch enough should prove      But the saddle tore as Oisin leaned to help them   And sorely he upon the ground was thrown   He quickly turned into an aged man   And ne'er again set eyes on Tir Na Nog.