I saw the moon come rising above the eastern hills A great round lantern glowing beyond the fields so still It carried shades of amber and hints of copper light As though some ancient fire had awakened in the night The trees stood dark beneath it, the eagle had gone to rest And all the world seemed waiting as the moon began to crest Higher still it wandered beyond the reach of day Leaving silver footprints across the clouds of gray The amber slowly faded to a pale and shining white And every passing moment filled the darkness up with light The rivers caught its brilliance the ponds became like glass And every hill and hollow seemed enchanted as I passed The hedgerows and the pastures lay quiet in its glow The winding country roadways were bright enough to know No harshness filled the evening no burden could be found Only the gentle comfort of moonlight on the ground And standing there beneath it with the night spread all around I felt a kind of stillness that no words could ever sound Now the Emerald Isle lay shining beneath that silver light Like a shining pearl upon the sea set gently in the night The fields and hills of Ireland gleamed softly far and wide Washed in moonlit splendor beneath the starry sky Until the night embraced me and the stars shone clear above Beneath the moon's bright splendor and its quiet gift of love
