THE LEGENDS.
A BARD SONG.
I
They fought ere sunrise at Tor Conainn;
All day they fought on the hoarse sea-shore;
The sun dropp'd downward; they fought amain;
The tide rose upward; they fought the more.
The sands were cover'd; the sea grew red;
The warriors fought in the reddening wave;
That night the sea was the Sea-King's bed;
The Land-King drifted by cliff and cave.
II
Great was the rage in those ancient days
(We were pagans then) in the land of Eire;
Like eagles men vanquish'd the noontide blaze;
Their bones were granite; their nerves were wire.
We are hinds to-day! The Nemedian kings
Like elk and bison of old stalk'd forth;
Their name—the ‘Sea Kings’—for ever clings
To the ‘Giant Stepping Stones’ round the North.
