 | Dirge for Aoine and other poems |  |
xxiv
THE PIPER
The Piper comes and the Piper goes;
His pipe is carven of willow-wood.
One tune of it changes our beating blood
To water: another tune he blows
And fire's in our feet, but no man knows
If sad or glad be the Piper's mood.
His pipe is carven of willow-wood.
One tune of it changes our beating blood
To water: another tune he blows
And fire's in our feet, but no man knows
If sad or glad be the Piper's mood.
He plants sweet grapes and he gathers sloes,
Uproots the cherry, and leaves the weed,
Leans on a spear, though his hand must bleed,
And loveless ever mid lovers goes,
Though all hearths listen for him, he knows,
And covered for him is the fire's red seed.
Uproots the cherry, and leaves the weed,
Leans on a spear, though his hand must bleed,
And loveless ever mid lovers goes,
Though all hearths listen for him, he knows,
And covered for him is the fire's red seed.
The Piper's eyes are as deep as the sea,
Sea-gray, sea-green; and what man can tell
That meets his eyes if 'tis ill or well
To look and forget, or remember and be
For ever under the Piper's spell,
Swayed by him as a wind-swayed tree?
Sea-gray, sea-green; and what man can tell
That meets his eyes if 'tis ill or well
To look and forget, or remember and be
For ever under the Piper's spell,
Swayed by him as a wind-swayed tree?
Over the world the red wind blows,
Darkens the sea and veils the sun.
The Piper under the twilight goes
And shepherds our wandering wills as one:
The web of our thoughts is by him undone.
Who leads the Piper there's no one knows.
Darkens the sea and veils the sun.
The Piper under the twilight goes
And shepherds our wandering wills as one:
The web of our thoughts is by him undone.
Who leads the Piper there's no one knows.
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