The lily and the poppy

C - D - Em - C - D - G

 G D Em C D

1. They say the Easter Lily blooms no more, no more in Erin,

G D Em Am D

now the Irish dance to different tunes and scorn the lily's wearin'.

G D Em C D

While in Flanders Field the poppies grow in bright blood red perfusion,

G D Em - C D

a badge of pride no more, no more, a badge of shame and treason.

C D G Em - C D G

Ireland, oh Ireland, what have you become ?

C D GEm C D G + C - D - G

Oh, Ireland, oh, Ireland, they were all your sons.

G D Em C D

2. Freedom is a fragile flower, a poppy or a lily,

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withered by dreams too soon turn sour, in this land of empty bellies.

G D Em

So once more, once more, our wild geese flew

C D

to freedom's false horizon,

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to seek an ageold Irish rendezvous with suffering, grief and mourning.

+ CHORUS + C - D - G

G D Em C D

3. Far from here the wild geese fly past hate and love and caring,

G D Em Am D

in countless graves they nameless lie, the long lost sons of Erin.

G D Em C D

The passing years shall not condemn those who lie beneath the poppy,

G D Em - C D

when from the same green slender stem there grew an Easter Lily.

+ CHORUS + verse 2 & CHORUS as instrumental …

(Eric Bogle)