Ballads of Irish chivalry By Robert Dwyer Joyce: Edited, with Annotations, by his brother P. W. Joyce |
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THE GREEN DOVE AND THE RAVEN. |
 | Ballads of Irish chivalry |  |
155
THE GREEN DOVE AND THE RAVEN.
I
There was a dove with wings of green,Glistening o'er so radiantly,
With head of blue and golden sheen,
All sad and wearily,
Sitting two green boughs between
On lovely Barna's wild-wood tree.
II
There was a letter 'neath its wing,Written by a fair ladye,
Safely bound with silken string
So light and daintily,
And in that letter was a ring,
On lovely Barna's wild-wood tree,
III
There was a raven black and drear,Stained with blood all loathsomely,
Perched upon the branches near,
Croaking mournfully;
And he said, “O dove, what bring'st thou here
To lovely Barna's wild-wood tree?”
IV
“I'm coming from a ladye gay,To the young heir of sweet Glenore,
His ring returned, it is to say
She'll never love him more,—
Alas the hour, alas the day,—
By murmuring Funshion's fairy shore.
156
V
“O dove, outspread thy wings of green;I'll guide thee many a wild-wood o'er;
I'll bring thee where I last have seen
The young heir of Glenore,
Beneath the forest's sunless screen,
By murmuring Funshion's fairy shore.”
VI
O'er many a long mile did they flee,The dove, the raven stained with gore,
And found beneath the Murderer's Tree
The young heir of Glenore,—
A bloody, ghastly corpse was he,
By murmuring Funshion's fairy shore.
VII
“Go back, go back, thou weary dove,—And tell the cruel maid o'er and o'er,
He's Death's and mine; her hate or love
Can never reach him more—
To his ice-cold heart in Molaga's grove,
By murmuring Funshion's fairy shore.”
| Ballads of Irish chivalry | |