Saint Kavin was a gentleman,
He came from Tipperary;
And woman was the only thing
That ever made him scary.
For Kavin was a tender youth,
And he was very simple;
He feared the wiles of maiden smiles,
And fainted at a dimple.
But when Kathleen at seventeen
Came down the street one morning,
The luck of man came over him
And took him without warning.
Afraid to meet a foolish fate
By green sea or by dry land,
He fled away without delay
And sought a desert island.
But even there he felt despair;
For happiness is only
The hope of doing something else;
And he was very lonely.
He vowed to lead a life of prayer
Because that he had lost her;
And every time he thought of her
He said a Pater noster.
Yet hard it is for man to change
The less love for the greater;
And every time he reached Amen,
He must go back to Pater.
And so he grew a year or two
Disconsolate and holy,
While friends he'd known long since had grown
Papas and roly-poly.
Until one day, one blessed day,
A-moping like a Hindoo,
He saw Kathleen in mournful mien
A-passing by his window.
He threw away his rosary,
His Paters and his Aves;
For love is stronger than the wind
That wafts a thousand navies.