University of Virginia Library


154

THE SONG OF AHÈZ THE PALE

But this was in the old, old, far-off days,
But this was in the old, old, far-off days.
They rode beneath the ancient boughs, and as they rode she sang,
But at the last both silent were: only the horse-hoofs rang.
Guenn took up his sword, and she felt its shining blade,
And she laughed and vowed it fitted ill for the handling of a maid.
He looked at her, and darkly smiled, and said she was a queen:
For she could swing the white sword high and love its dazzling sheen.
She lifted up the great white sword and swung it o'er his head—
“Ah, you may smile, my lord, now you may smile,” she said.
For this was in the old, old, far-off days,
For this was in the old, old, far-off days.