Aileen Lambert - "Halloween 1914'. Words by Winifred M. Letts, Air by Aileen Lambert.

This is a recording of a performance at the launch of the book 'Sing in the Quiet Places of My Heart' by Bairbre O'Hogan, published by South Dublin Libraries. The launch took place in the Old Courthouse in Rathcoole as part of the Red Line Book Festival on 20th October 2024.

Hallow-E'en, 1914
Words: Winifred M Lett’s
Air: Aileen Lambert

"Why do you wait at your door, woman,
Alone in the night?"
"I am waiting for one who will come, stranger,
To show him a light.
He will see me afar on the road
And be glad at the sight."

"Have you no fear in your heart, woman,
To stand there alone?
There is comfort for you and kindly content
Beside the hearthstone."
But she answered, "No rest can I have
Till I welcome my own."

"Is it far he must travel to-night,
This man of your heart?"
"Strange lands that I know not and pitiless seas
Have kept us apart,
And he travels this night to his home
Without guide, without chart."

"And has he companions to cheer him?"
"Aye, many," she said.
"The candles are lighted, the hearthstones are swept,
The fires glow red.
We shall welcome them out of the night —
Our home-coming dead."