40

AEDH TELLS OF THE PERFECT BEAUTY 42

AEDH HEARS THE CRY OF THE SEDGE 43

AEDH THINKS OF THOSE WHO HAVE SPOKEN EVIL
OF HIS BELOVED 44

THE BLESSED 45

THE SECRET ROSE 47

HANRAHAN LAMENTS BECAUSE OF HIS WANDERINGS 51

THE TRAVAIL OF PASSION 52

THE POET PLEADS WITH HIS FRIEND FOR OLD
FRIENDS 54

HANRAHAN SPEAKS TO THE LOVERS OF HIS SONGS
IN COMING DAYS 55

AEDH PLEADS WITH THE ELEMENTAL POWERS 57

AEDH WISHES HIS BELOVED WERE DEAD 59

AEDH WISHES FOR THE CLOTHS OF HEAVEN 60

MONGAN THINKS OF HIS PAST GREATNESS 61

NOTES 65

THE HOSTING OF THE SIDHE

The host is riding from Knocknarea
And over the grave of Clooth-na-bare;
Caolte tossing his burning hair
And Niamh calling _Away, come away:
Empty your heart of its mortal dream.
The winds awaken, the leaves whirl round,
Our cheeks are pale, our hair is unbound,
Our breasts are heaving, our eyes are a-gleam,
Our arms are waving, our lips are apart;
And if any gaze on our rushing band,
We come between him and the deed of his hand,
We come between him and the hope of his heart_.
The host is rushing 'twixt night and day,
And where is there hope or deed as fair?
Caolte tossing his burning hair,
And Niamh calling _Away, come away_.

THE EVERLASTING VOICES

O sweet everlasting Voices be still;
Go to the guards of the heavenly fold
And bid them wander obeying your will
Flame under flame, till Time be no more;
Have you not heard that our hearts are old,
That you call in birds, in wind on the hill,
In shaken boughs, in tide on the shore?
O sweet everlasting Voices be still.

THE MOODS

Time drops in decay,
Like a candle burnt out,
And the mountains and woods
Have their day, have their day;
What one in the rout
Of the fire-born moods,
Has fallen away?

AEDH TELLS OF THE ROSE IN HIS HEART

All things uncomely and broken, all things worn out and old,
The cry of a child by the roadway, the creak of a lumbering cart,
The heavy steps of the