6

As it lay asleep, as it lay asleep,
I set it down in the darkness deep,
Smooth’d its limbs and laid it out,
And drew the curtains round about;
Then into the dark, dark room I hied
Where he lay awake at the woman’s side,
And though the chamber was black as night,
He saw my face, for it was so white;
I gazed in his eyes, and he shrieked in pain,
And I knew he would never sleep again,
And back to my grave went silently,
And soon my baby was brought to me;
My son and daughter beside me rest,
My little baby is on my breast;
Our bed is warm and our grave is deep,
But he cannot sleep, he cannot sleep!

LEGENDS AND BALLADS OF THE DEAD

THE FOLK OF THE AIR:  WM. BUTLER YEATS

O’Driscoll drove with a song,
  The wild duck and the drake
From the tall and the tufted weeds
  Of the drear Heart Lake.

And he saw how the weeds grew dark
  At the coming of night tide,
And he dreamed of the long dark hair
  Of Bridget his bride.

He heard while he sang and dreamed
  A piper passing away,
And never was piping so sad,
  And never was piping so gay.

And he saw young men and young girls
  Who danced on a level place,
And Bridget his bride among them,
  With a sad and a gay face.

The dancers crowded about him,
  And many a sweet thing said,
And a young man brought him red wine,
  And a young girl white bread.

But Bridget drew him by the sleeve,
  Away from the merry bands,
To old men playing at cards
  With a twinkling of ancient hands.

The bread and the wine had a doom,
  For these were the folk of the air;
He sat and played in a dream
  Of her long dim hair.

He played with the merry old men,
  And thought not of evil chance,
Until one bore Bridget his bride
  Away from the merry dance.

He bore her away in his arms,
  The handsomest young man there,
And his neck and his breast and his arms
  Were drowned in her long dim hair.

O’Driscoll got up from the grass
  And scattered the cards with a cry;
But the old men and the dancers were gone
  As a cloud faded into the sky.

He knew now the folk of the air,
  And his heart was blackened by dread,
And he ran to the door of his house;
  Old women were keening the dead.

And he heard high up in the air
  A piper piping away;
And never was piping so sad
 And never was piping so gay.

THE RECONCILIATION:  A. MARGARET RAMSAY

“The snow has ceased, the wind has hushed,
  The moon shines fair and clear,
The night is drawing on apace,
  Yet Evan is not here.

“The deer is couched among the fern,
  The bird sleeps on the tree;
O what can keep my only son,
  He bides so long from me?”