University of Virginia Library


23

St Patrick converts the two Princesses

Ethne the Fair, Fedelm the Ruddy,
The High-King's daughters, lovely in body,
Chaste in heart and wise in mind,
Mild as the dove, slight as the hind:—
They met with Patrick as they went down
To bathe their limbs in the waters brown,
And asked what manner of God was his.
The two were white as the white lilies.
Patrick preached them the One True God.
“And where,” they asked, “is His white abode,
So we may see Him this very day?”
“Dying,” he said, “is the only way.”
He saw those children were lovely all,
And the world is full of snare and pitfall;
So he laid white veils on each golden head,
Poured them the water, brake them the Bread.
They praised God, and they closed their eyes,
And opened them next in Paradise.