Amazing to think that I recorded this back in January of 2000, when I was very new to Ananda. I still remember how the beauty of this melody transported me to someplace mystical and magical.
I didn’t really know the words then, but they’re wonderful poetry as well. You can hear Ramesha sing it here (lyrics are below):
EMERALD ISLE
Come hear, while I sing you of emerald hills,
Of valleys and meadows so fair
That all who have seen them have carried away
Memories in their hearts, friends, like the lilacs of May:
Oh, my song is the story of the lilacs of May.
My song is the story of deer on the hills,
Of larks that soar, seeking the sun,
Of nightingales lifting the curtain of night
As with music they bring down heaven’s blessing of light:
Oh, my song is the story of God’s blessing of light.
Come join me in singing of that emerald isle,
Of flow’rs that, like jewels, besprinkle the lea,
Of waterfalls eager to embrace the wide sea
As we with our Maker reunited would be.
Come hear, while I sing you of emerald hills,
Of valleys and meadows so fair
That all who have seen them have carried away
Memories in their hearts, friends, like the lilacs of May:
Oh, my song is the story of the lilacs of May.
–by Swami Kriyananda