 | Ballads of Irish chivalry |  |
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THE LADY OF THE SEA.
I
It was the fairest maiden in Kerry's broad domains,Her faith did plight to an Irish knight by the shore where Cleena reigns;
She was a Saxon maiden—'twas to her father's foe—
And ah, that leal, but hapless love, did cause her bitter woe!
II
For her dark sire had sworn that both their lives should beThe forfeit of their meeting by Cleena's murmuring sea;
And oft she wept her sister's scorn and her black brother's ire,
And oft the stern reproval of her lordly Saxon sire!
III
She sits beside the greenwood, the lady Jane, alone,To think upon her hapless love, and make her mournful moan;
But grief was gone, and joy soon shone, when by her side stood he,
Her banished knight, her Conal Dhuv, the Rover of the Sea!
IV
I've come to thee, my lonely love, back from the main sea wave,An outlawed man, a landless knight, thy hand once more to crave:
The grass grows in my castle hall—but fly, my love, with me,
And thou shalt reign within my bark, the Lady of the Sea!”
145
V
Ah! other ears than his have heard the low consent she gaveTo fly with him next eventide out on the main sea wave;
A captain of a pirate bark was lurking in the screen,
And he hath sworn to cross their love—a truthful oath I ween.
VI
It was a golden sunset, a gorgeous eve of May,And sea and stream beneath the beam in calm resplendence lay,
And all alone where towered the crags like giants huge and still,
A bonnie page stood pensively by tall Saint Brandon's Hill.
VII
A belt all bright with ruddy gold was o'er his shoulders flung,A dagger and a silver horn from that glittering belt were hung,
And long he gazed upon the deep where sank the golden day,
Till round the rock there sudden peered a small sail far away.
VIII
He put the horn unto his mouth, he blew a blast full clear,And to its sound along the waves that light boat danced a-near;
But soon he drew his dagger bright—he drew, alas, in vain,
For strange dark men around him sprang, and forced him o'er the main!
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IX
Scarce vanished was the pirate boat the sunset billows o'er,When from the sea-beat island crags another sought the shore;
It waited long, it moved a-near, it donned a snow-white sail,
But never sound of bugle horn came whispering on the gale.
X
At length there leapt upon the strand a youth with eagle eye,With stately form, and kingly face, and bearing bold and high;
There found the page's blood-stained dirk, and cried, “Ah, woe is me,
Some ruffian band have slain my love, my Lady of the Sea!”
XI
He rowed his boat full furiously, he gained his bark ere night,And told the sad tale to his crew in the sunset's waning light.
They sailed away thro' twilight gray, thro' midnight drear and dark,
And when the red morn lit the spray they found the pirate bark.
XII
An old man stood by Conal Dhuv, his foster-sire was he:“Now give me speech with yon brave ship, perchance they guiltless be!”
147
“Nor page, nor maid, we've seen”, they said, “upon the salt sea brine!”
XIII
The old man looked around their deck: he saw the page's horn:“Now, liars all, mark this!” he cried, with looks of hate and scorn;
Then drew his sword and cleared a path, and leapt into the sea,
And to his chief despite their shot he swam right gallantly!
XIV
Oh! loud and long the cheer they gave, young Conal's gallant crew,As on the pirate's deck they sprang for vengeance stern and true;
Revenge is ta'en, the foe they've slain, though fought he fierce and well,
But in that hour of victory their brave young chieftain fell!
XV
A coronach, a coronach upon the ocean sheen;The've brought the lady from the hold, no more a page I ween;
They've placed her by her Conal Dhuv, they raise the funeral wail,
And ever as they vent their grief they fly before the gale.
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XVI
A coronach, a coronach by Cleena's fairy shore;The lady died by her lover's side ere th'eve came blushing o'er.
A ruin crowns a wave-worn crag; there sweetly slumbers he,
Young Donal Dhuv, with his faithful love, his Lady of the Sea!
| Ballads of Irish chivalry | |