[Verse 1]
Sharp is the wind
Cold is the rain
Harsh is the livelong day
Upon the wide open plain
[Verse 2]
By Donnelly's hollow
Under sod, gorse, and furze
There lies the young wren, oh
By the saints she was cursed
[Verse 3]
The wren is a small bird
How pretty she sings
She bested the eagle
When she hid in its wings
[Verse 4]
With sticks and with stones
All among the small mounds
They come from all over
To hunt the wren on the wide open ground
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 5]
There are birds of the earth
And beasts of the field
By spite and by fury
Are people revealed
[Verse 6]
Attacked in the village
Spat on in town
They come from all over
To hunt the wren on the wide open ground
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 7]
The wren is a small bird
Though blamed for much woe
Her form is derided
Wherever she goes
[Verse 8]
With cold, want, and whiskey
She soon is run down
Her body paraded
On a staff through the town
[Verse 9]
A rag for her ceiling
The sod was her floor
She chose the cold open plain o'er
The dark workhouse door
[Verse 10]
With two broken wings
And feathers so brown
They come from all over
To hunt the wren on the wide open ground