You must do nothing false
Or cruel-lipped or low;
For I am Conn the Fool,
And Conn the Fool will know.
I went by the door
When Patrick Joyce looked out.
He did not wish for me
Or anyone about.
He thought I did not see
The fat bag in his hand.
But Conn heard clinking gold,
And Conn could understand.
I went by the door
When Michael Kane lay dead.
I saw his Mary tie
A red shawl round her head.
I saw a dark man lean
Across her garden-wall.
They did not know that Conn
Walked by at late dusk-fall.
You must not scold or lie,
Or hate or steal or k**,
For I shall tell the wind
That leaps along the hill;
And he will tell the stars
That sing and never lie;
And they will shout your sin
In God's face, bye and bye.
And God will not forget,
For all He loves you so. -
He made me Conn the Fool,
And bade me always know!