When King Conchobar sought to soothe her, she would answer:
"What, O Conchobar, of thee?
To me nought but tears and lamentation hast thou meted out;
This is my life, so long as life shall last;
Thy love for me is as a flame put out.[102]
He who to me was fairest under heaven,
He who was most beloved,
Thou hast torn him from me, great was the injury,
I see him not until I die.
The secret of my grief, that it is gone,
The form of Usna's son revealed to me;
A pile I see dark-black above a corpse,
Bright and well known to me beyond all else.
Break not, my heart, to-day!
I sink ere long into an early grave;
Like to the strong sea-wave
The grief that binds me, if thou but knowest, O King!
What, O Conchobar, of thee?
To me nought but tears and lamentation hast thou meted out;
This is my life, so long as life shall last;
Thy love, methinks, is as a flame put out."
FOOTNOTES:
[100] i.e. Fergus mac Roy and his sons, who induced the sons of Usna to return with them to Ireland, where they were slain by King Conchobar.
[101] Fál is a poetic name for Ireland; Inisfáil means "the Island of destiny" or of "knowledge."