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The Emigrant's Reflections

from Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856) by John Collie (1834-1893)

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Why did I leave my native home ? Why did I o'er the billows roam ? Why did I leave Britannia's Isles , That fairy land , where freedom smiles , To seek a home where Slavery reigns In triumph o'er his wild domains ?

Oh gold , of ' luring , doubtful fame , For thee I o’er the billows camé , For thee I fled my native vale , For thee I bade my friends farewell ; For thee I braved the ocean's roar , To pine upon a foreign shore .

Thus , as the rainbow's colours bright , Thy witching charms rose in my sight ; But , as the rainbow's tints decay , So passed thy airy charms away , And left me here to sigh alone , With blighted hopes , and prospects gone .

The morning sun's resplendent rays Recall to mind my early days , When I could claim a filial friend , To calm the current of my mind , And snatch from me the sting of care , Which oft has laid this bosom bare .

But now , alas , no friend is near To shed for me one sacred tear ; No mother's hand my bed to smooth , No father's prayer my pangs to soothe ; All seems a bleak and cheerless waste , As wild to me as ocean's breast . Yet while the blood flows through my veins ,

And while the spark of life remains , I yet may hope to view once more My own , my rough , my rugged shore ; Misfortune may its bands release , And I may end my days in peace .

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from Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856), released May 24, 2022
Dave Edwards - acoustic guitar, harmonica, vocal

John Collie - lyrics (1856)

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fiffdimension Featherston, New Zealand

Outsider music from Aotearoa NZ and beyond, by Dave Edwards and collaborators (from 1856 to 2024).

Spans acoustic & electric noise, rock, folk, spoken word, postpunk, free jazz, gamelan, lo fi, electronica, & ethnomusicology.

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