 | Robert Louis Stevenson: Collected Poems |  |
So it was spoken, and so agreed, and Taheia arose
And smiled in the stars and was gone, swift as the swallow goes;
And Rua stood on the hill, and sighed, and followed her flight,
And there were the lodges below, each with its door alight;
From folk that sat on the terrace and drew out the even long
Sudden crowings of laughter, monotonous drone of song;
The quiet passage of souls over his head in the trees;
And from all around the haven the crumbling thunder of seas.
‘Farewell, my home,’ said Rua. ‘Farewell, O quiet seat!
To-morrow in all your valleys the drum of death shall beat.’
And smiled in the stars and was gone, swift as the swallow goes;
And Rua stood on the hill, and sighed, and followed her flight,
And there were the lodges below, each with its door alight;
From folk that sat on the terrace and drew out the even long
Sudden crowings of laughter, monotonous drone of song;
The quiet passage of souls over his head in the trees;
And from all around the haven the crumbling thunder of seas.
‘Farewell, my home,’ said Rua. ‘Farewell, O quiet seat!
To-morrow in all your valleys the drum of death shall beat.’
| Robert Louis Stevenson: Collected Poems | |