 | The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan |  |
IV.
Full many a year my heart was sore
And the World grew dark to me,—
When I heard the music I loved once more
I had summers a score and three!
And the World grew dark to me,—
When I heard the music I loved once more
I had summers a score and three!
There came a bird in the dead of night
And sang and waken'd me,
And I felt the beams of the Land of Light
And open'd mine eyes to see!
And sang and waken'd me,
And I felt the beams of the Land of Light
And open'd mine eyes to see!
The clouds of the City were cleft in twain,
The gleam of the skies shone through,—
And voices from Elfland cried again
With a hark and a hey halloo!
The gleam of the skies shone through,—
And voices from Elfland cried again
With a hark and a hey halloo!
The banners of Elfland waved on high,
The streets were grassy green,
Everywhere 'neath the starry sky
The Fairy Folk were seen!
The streets were grassy green,
Everywhere 'neath the starry sky
The Fairy Folk were seen!
The pale Fay-King with his golden crown
Went by and beckon'd me,
And troops of children followed him down
To the sands of a crystal Sea;—
Went by and beckon'd me,
And troops of children followed him down
To the sands of a crystal Sea;—
And some were blind, and some were lame,
And all were ragged and poor,
And they flock'd and flock'd with glad acclaim,
As he passed, from every door!
And all were ragged and poor,
And they flock'd and flock'd with glad acclaim,
As he passed, from every door!
And down to a silvern strand they hied
And bathed in the water clear,
And the King stood by them radiant-eyed
While the Good Folk gather'd near.
And bathed in the water clear,
And the King stood by them radiant-eyed
While the Good Folk gather'd near.
Back they flocked to the City cold,
Between the dark and the light,
And a gentle Shepherd with crook of gold
Gather'd them into the dusky fold
Like lambs wash'd clean and white!
Between the dark and the light,
And a gentle Shepherd with crook of gold
Gather'd them into the dusky fold
Like lambs wash'd clean and white!
From the shining dove-cots overhead
Whose doors swung open wide,
The Fays of heaven took wing and fled
Like doves in the eventide;
Whose doors swung open wide,
The Fays of heaven took wing and fled
Like doves in the eventide;
And the Fays of the woods came thronging in,
With the Fays of field and stream,
And they filled the City of shame and sin
With the sound of a summer dream!
With the Fays of field and stream,
And they filled the City of shame and sin
With the sound of a summer dream!
Have you heard the croon of a cushat creep
Through the boughs of a leafy dell?
Like the cushat's call, from the boughs of Sleep
(Deep! deep! deep! deep!)
The magic murmur fell!
Through the boughs of a leafy dell?
Like the cushat's call, from the boughs of Sleep
(Deep! deep! deep! deep!)
The magic murmur fell!
And the little children lay content
While the Fays their vigil kept,
And honeysuckle and hawthorn scent
Blew round them as they slept!
While the Fays their vigil kept,
And honeysuckle and hawthorn scent
Blew round them as they slept!
And ever the bugles of Elfland blew
And the magic notes ran free,—
The Heavens were open, the stars shone thro'
With a golden glamorie!
And the magic notes ran free,—
The Heavens were open, the stars shone thro'
With a golden glamorie!
| The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan | |