The Exile's Song

Robert Gilfillan

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 
  Amang 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.

Robert Gilfillan was born in Dunfermline and it appears spent all his life in Scotland. His exile in this eastern land is imaginary.


Main Location:

Scotland, United Kingdom