Classic Poem

I met an' ould caillach I knowed right well on the brow o' Carnashee:
" The top o' the mornin'! " I says to her. " God save ye! " she says to me:
" An' och! if it's you,
Tell me true,
When are ye goin' to marry? "
" I'm here, " says I, " to be married to-morrow,
Wi' the man to find an' the money to borrow. "

" As sure as ye're young an' fair, " says she, " one day ye'll be ugly an' ould.
If ye haven't a husband, who'll care, " says she, " to call ye in out o' the could?
Left to yerself,
Laid on the shelf, —
Now is yer time to marry.
Musha! don't tell me ye'll be married to-morrow,
Wi' the man to find an' the money to borrow. "

" I may be dead are I'm ould, " says I, " for nobody knows their day.
I never was fear'd o' the could, " says I, " but I'm fear'd to give up me way.
Good or bad,
Sorry or glad,
'Tis mine no more when I marry.
So here stand I, to be married to-morrow;
Wi' the man to find an' the money to borrow. "

The poor ould caillach went down the hill shakin' her finger at me.
" 'Tis on top o' the world ye think yerself still, an' that's what it is, " says she.
But thon was the day
Dan MacIlray
Had me promise to marry.
So here stand I, to be married to-morrow, —
The man he is found, but the money's to borrow.