Irish Songs and Poems By William Allingham: Second Edition: With Nine Airs for Voice and Pianoforte, and a Permanent Photograph of the Waterfall of Asaroe |
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 | Irish Songs and Poems |  |
20
III.
On a winter night, when the fire burn'd bright,
After flocks of years had flown away,
Voiceful O'Kennedy sung his lay,
And his yearning harp was tuned aright
For ripples of music that keep afloat
The little tale like a gliding boat:
‘Who will hearken to harp and rhyme,
Of things that befell in olden time?
After flocks of years had flown away,
Voiceful O'Kennedy sung his lay,
And his yearning harp was tuned aright
For ripples of music that keep afloat
The little tale like a gliding boat:
‘Who will hearken to harp and rhyme,
Of things that befell in olden time?
For one more voyage Prince Dalachmar sail'd;
His two bold sons in the ship with him;
Tho' his beard was white, and his eyesight dim,
And his strength was fail'd.
His two bold sons in the ship with him;
Tho' his beard was white, and his eyesight dim,
And his strength was fail'd.
Weary was he with endless quest
By watery way and island bay;
Never seeing by night or day
One he loved best.
By watery way and island bay;
Never seeing by night or day
One he loved best.
‘For he had wedded a fairy wife,
And she had left him, he knew not why,
And till he had found her he would not die,
Though sad was life.
(Hush a little for harp and rhyme:
This befell in olden time.)
And she had left him, he knew not why,
And till he had found her he would not die,
Though sad was life.
(Hush a little for harp and rhyme:
This befell in olden time.)
21
‘A sunset over mid-ocean spread,
Where the ship, becalm'd, did gently sway:
And there on deck Prince Dalachmar lay,
As well nigh dead.
Where the ship, becalm'd, did gently sway:
And there on deck Prince Dalachmar lay,
As well nigh dead.
‘Closed were his eyes, and pallid his face,
His sons and his sailors standing round;
They thought, “He is far from the burial-mound
Of his chieftain-race.”
His sons and his sailors standing round;
They thought, “He is far from the burial-mound
Of his chieftain-race.”
‘But he opens his eyes, he lifts his hands,
Like one who sees some wonderful sight;
He raises himself, his eyes grow bright;
Straight up he stands.
Like one who sees some wonderful sight;
He raises himself, his eyes grow bright;
Straight up he stands.
‘He sighs, “Long-while have I lived alone.”
He smiles, “It is Thou!” and then, with one leap
Into the heave of the glassy deep,
Sinks like a stone.
(Hush a little for harp and rhyme:
This befell in olden time.)
He smiles, “It is Thou!” and then, with one leap
Into the heave of the glassy deep,
Sinks like a stone.
(Hush a little for harp and rhyme:
This befell in olden time.)
‘Swifter than cormorants plunged the men,
Rose for breath, and dived anew;
But they swam to the ship when dark it grew,
All silent then.
Rose for breath, and dived anew;
But they swam to the ship when dark it grew,
All silent then.
‘Voyaging homewards, often a gleam
Encompass'd the vessel, and with the light
A waft of music. One still midnight
There came a Dream.
Encompass'd the vessel, and with the light
A waft of music. One still midnight
There came a Dream.
‘At full moon, full tide,—to each Brother the same:
His Father and Mother, hand in hand,
Immortally fair, beside him stand,
And speak his name.
(Hush a little for harp and rhyme:
This befell in olden time.)
His Father and Mother, hand in hand,
Immortally fair, beside him stand,
And speak his name.
22
This befell in olden time.)
“‘Child! I left what I loved the most,
Feeling a fire within me burn,
For a day, an hour,—but not to return:
My sea-life was lost.
Feeling a fire within me burn,
For a day, an hour,—but not to return:
My sea-life was lost.
“‘Love brings all together at last.
Keep love safe, it will guide thee well.
We watch thee,—more I may not tell,
Till the years be past.”
Keep love safe, it will guide thee well.
We watch thee,—more I may not tell,
Till the years be past.”
‘Softly the vision seem'd to rise,
Enclosed in a radiant atmosphere,
And to float aloft, and disappear
Into the skies.
(Hush a little for harp and rhyme:
This befell in olden time.)
Enclosed in a radiant atmosphere,
And to float aloft, and disappear
Into the skies.
(Hush a little for harp and rhyme:
This befell in olden time.)
‘The ship sail'd fast in the morning sun
By point and cave, as the fair wind blew,
And into a little port she knew,
And her voyage was done.
By point and cave, as the fair wind blew,
And into a little port she knew,
And her voyage was done.
‘Where the mounded Rath overlooks the sea
The Pillar-Stone is a beacon afar;
Graven in ogham, “Dalachmar—
Merraunee.”
(This was all in olden time;
And here is the end of harp and rhyme.)’
The Pillar-Stone is a beacon afar;
Graven in ogham, “Dalachmar—
Merraunee.”
(This was all in olden time;
And here is the end of harp and rhyme.)’
But this too is a bygone song.
The Rath has been for ages long
A grassy hill; the Standing-stone
Looks on a country bare and lone,
And lonelier billows,—half a word
Of ogham
at the edge, all blurr'd
With crust of lichens yellow and gray.
There you may sit of a summer day,
And watch the white foam rise and fall
On rampart cliffs of Donegal,
And the wild sheep on the greensward stray,
And the sea-line sparkle far away.
The Rath has been for ages long
A grassy hill; the Standing-stone
Looks on a country bare and lone,
And lonelier billows,—half a word
23
(the O pronounced long) ‘consists of lines or groups of lines variously arranged with reference to a single stem-line, or to an edge of the substance on which they are traced.’ Examples may be seen in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. They were in use after the Christian era, but probably descended from a remote antiquity.
With crust of lichens yellow and gray.
There you may sit of a summer day,
And watch the white foam rise and fall
On rampart cliffs of Donegal,
And the wild sheep on the greensward stray,
And the sea-line sparkle far away.
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