An Old Tale of Three.
UNA URQUHART
Ah bonnie darling, lift your dark eyes dreaming!
See, the firelight fills the gloaming, though deep darkness grows without—
Hush, dear, hush, I hear the sea-birds screaming,
And down beyond the haven the tide comes with a shout!
Ah, birdeen, sweetheart, sure he is not coming,
He who has your hand in fee, while I have all your heart—
Hush, dear, hush, I hear the wild bees humming
Far away in the underworld where true love shall not part!
Darling, darling, darling, all the world is singing,
Singing, singing, singing a song of joy for me!
Hush, dear, hush, what wild sea-wind is bringing
Gloom o’ the sea about thy brow, athwart the eyes of thee?
Ah, heart o’ me, darling, darling, all my heart’s aflame!
Sure, at the last we are all in all, all in all we two!
At the Door,
A VOICE.
This is the way I take my own, this is the boon I claim!
(Later, in the dark, the living brooding beside the dead:—)
Sure, at the last, ye are all in all, all in all, ye two—
Ah, hell of my heart! Ye are dust to me—and dust with dust may woo!
UNKNOWN
Lost Love.
(From the Gaelic, Western Isles.)
My heart! my pulse! my flame!
O the gloom, O the pain!
He has no wish to save me
Who will not come again.
Love! Love! Love!
The fair cheek, the dark hair,
The promise forgotten;
’Twill go with me there.
False! false! false!
O, youth is false for ever:
He loves far more than living me—
The lifeless heather.
The hunting field,
The greenwood tree,
The trout, the running deer, he loves,
Far more than me.
He loves—loves—loves
To stalk the frightened doe;
He never heeds the pain he gives,
His skill to show.
O, the dark blue eye—
A flower wet with dew;
O, the fair false face—
Too sweet to view!
Love! Love! Love!
The fair cheek, the dark hair!
For him I’d scale the walls of hell
Gin he were there!