'Twas up the hill and down the hill,
     Upon the hottest day,
 And in the wood we found a pool
     Where silver fishes play.

The three tall poplars standing there
     Had caught the wind and kept
  Turning their silver leaves in air
       Though all the breezes slept.

And in the deep and amber pool
   The silver fins and gold
Went turning till the day was cool
     And very nearly cold.

I wish I was a little fish
          All the hot day to swim,
   All the hot night to lie asleep
         In depths so green and dim.
 

Tonight when I shall fall asleep
    It may be I shall dream
Of silver trees that turn a silver leaf
       Of fins a-gleam..

Tynan was born into a large farming family in Clondalkin, County Dublin, and educated at a convent Drogheda. Her poems were first published in 1878. Tynan went on to play a major part in Dublin literary circles, until she married and moved to England; later she lived at Clare morris, County Mayo magistrate there from 1914 until 1919.

Posted 16:27