And we came to the Bounteous Isle, where And we came in an evil time to the Isle the heavens lean low on the land, of the Double Towers, And ever at dawn from the cloud glitter'd o'er us a sunbright hand, One was of smooth-cut stone, one carved all over with flowers, hollows under the dells, Then it open'd and dropt at the side of But an earthquake always moved in the each man, as he rose from his rest, Bread enough for his need till the labour less day dipt under the West; And we wander'd about it and thro' it. O never was time so good! And we sang of the triumphs of Finn, and the boast of our ancient blood, And we gazed at the wandering wave as we sat by the gurgle of springs, And we chanted the songs of the Bards and the glories of fairy kings; And they shock'd on each other and butted each other with clashing of bells, And the daws flew out of the Towers and jangled and wrangled in vain, And the clash and boom of the bells rang into the heart and the brain, Till the passion of battle was on us, and all took sides with the Towers, There were some for the clean-cut stone, there were more for the carven flowers, But at length we began to be weary, to And the wrathful thunder of God peal'd sigh, and to stretch and yawn, Till we hated the Bounteous Isle and the sunbright hand of the dawn, For there was not an enemy near, but the whole green Isle was our own, And we took to playing at ball, and we took to throwing the stone, And we took to playing at battle, but that was a perilous play, For the passion of battle was in us, we slew and we sail'd away. IX. And we came to the Isle of Witches and heard their musical cry 'Come to us, O come, come' in the stormy red of a sky Dashing the fires and the shadows of dawn on the beautiful shapes, For a wild witch naked as heaven stood on each of the loftiest capes, And a hundred ranged on the rock like white sea-birds in a row, And a hundred gamboll'd and pranced on the wrecks in the sand below, And a hundred splash'd from the ledges, and bosom'd the burst of the spray, But I knew we should fall on each other, and hastily sail'd away. over us all the day, For the one half slew the other, and after we sail'd away. XI. And we came to the Isle of a Saint who had sail'd with St. Brendan of yore, He had lived ever since on the Isle and his winters were fifteen score, And his voice was low as from other worlds, and his eyes were sweet, And his white hair sank to his heels and his white beard fell to his feet, And he spake to me, 'O Maeldune, let be this purpose of thine! Remember the words of the Lord when he told us 66 Vengeance is mine!" His fathers have slain thy fathers in war or in single strife, Thy fathers have slain his fathers, each taken a life for a life, Thy father had slain his father, how long shall the murder last? Go back to the Isle of Finn and suffer the Past to be Past.' And we kiss'd the fringe of his beard and we pray'd as we heard him pray, And the Holy man he assoil'd us, and sadly we sail'd away. From that true world within the world we see, Whereof our world is but the bounding shore Out of the deep, Spirit, out of the deep, With this ninth moon, that sends the hidden sun Out of the deep, my child, out of the Down yon dark sea, thou comest, darling deep, Thro' all this changing world of change less law, And every phase of ever-heightening life, And nine long months of antenatal gloom, With this last moon, this crescent-her dark orb Touch'd with earth's light-thou comest, darling boy; Our own; a babe in lineament and limb Perfect, and prophet of the perfect man ; Whose face and form are hers and mine in one, Indissolubly married like our love; life Breaking with laughter from the dark; and may The fated channel where thy motion lives Be prosperously shaped, and sway thy course Along the years of haste and random youth Unshatter'd; then full-current thro' full man; |