Usheen

"Why do you wind no horn?" she said. "And every hero droop his head? "The hornless deer is not more sad "That many a peaceful moment had, "More sleek than any granary mouse, "In his own leafy forest house "Among the waving fields of fern: "The hunting of heroes should be glad."

"O pleasant woman," answered Finn, "We think on Oscar's pencilled urn, "And on the heroes lying slain, On Gavra's raven-covered plain; "But where are your noble kith and kin, "And from what country do you ride?"

"My father and my mother are "Aengus and Adene, my own name "Niam, and my country far "Beyond the tumbling of this tide."

"What dream came with you that you came "Through bitter tide on foam wet feet? "Did your companion wander away "From where the birds of Aengus wing?"

She said, with laughter tender and sweet: "I have not yet, war-weary king, "Been spoken of with any one; "Yet now I choose, for these four feet "Ran through the foam and ran to this "That I might have your son to kiss."

"Were there no better than my son "That you through all that foam should run?"

"I loved no man, though kings besought "Love, till the Danaan poets brought "Rhyme, that rhymed to Usheen's name, "And now I am dizzy with the thought "Of all that wisdom and the fame "Of battles broken by his hands, "Of stories builded by his words "That are like coloured Asian birds "At evening in their rainless lands."

O Patric, by your brazen bell, There was no limb of mine but fell Into a desperate gulph of love! "You only will I wed," I cried, "And I will make a thousand songs, "And set your name all names above. "And captives bound with leathern thongs "Shall kneel and praise you, one by one, "At evening in my western dun."

"O Usheen, mount by me and ride "To shores by the wash of the tremulous tide, "Where men have heaped no burial mounds, "And the days pass by like a wayward tune, "Where broken faith has never been known, "And the blushes of first love never have flown; "And there I will give you a hundred hounds; "No mightier creatures bay at the moon; "And a hundred robes of murmuring silk, "And a hundred calves and a hundred sheep "Whose long wool whiter than sea froth flows, "And a hundred spears and a hundred bows, "And oil and wine and honey and milk, "And always never-anxious sleep; "While a hundred youths, mighty of limb, "But knowing nor tumult nor hate nor strife, "And a hundred maidens, merry as birds, "Who when they dance to a fitful measure "Have a speed like the speed of the salmon herds, "Shall follow your horn and obey your whim, "And you shall know the Danaan leisure: "And Niam be with you for a wife." Then she sighed gently, "It grows late, "Music and love and sleep await, "Where I would be when the white moon climbs "The red sun falls, and the world grows dim."

And then I mounted and she bound me With her triumphing arms around me, And whispering to herself enwound me; But when the horse had felt my weight, He shook himself and neighed three times: Caolte, Conan, and Finn came near, And wept, and raised their lamenting hands, And bid me stay, with many a tear; But we rode out from the human lands.

In what far kingdom do you go, Ah, Fenians, with the shield and bow? Or are you phantoms white as snow, Whose lips had life's most prosperous glow? O you, with whom in sloping valleys, Or down the dewy forest alleys, I chased at morn the flying deer, With whom I hurled the hurrying spear, And heard the foemen's bucklers rattle, And broke the heaving ranks of battle! And Bran, Sgeolan, and Lomair, Where are you with your long rough hair? You go not where the red deer feeds, Nor tear the foemen from their steeds.