Prayer
LET us leave our island woods grown dim and blue; O’er the waters creeping the pearl dust of the eve Hides the silver of the long wave rippling through: The chill for the warm
Momentary
THE SWEETEST song was ever sung May soothe you but a little while: The gayest music ever rung Shall yield you but a fleeting smile. The well I digged you soon shall pass: You
Waiting
WHEN the dawn comes forth I wonder Will our sad, sad hearts awaken, And the grief we laboured under From the new-in-joy be shaken? If the night be long in going, All our souls
Dust
I HEARD them in their sadness say, “The earth rebukes the thought of God; We are but embers wrapped in clay A little nobler than the sod.” But I have touched the lips of
Dream Love
I DID not deem it half so sweet To feel thy gentle hand, As in a dream thy soul to greet Across wide leagues of land. Untouched more near to draw to you Where,
A Call of the Sidhe
TARRY thou yet, late lingerer in the twilight’s glory: Gay are the hills with song: earth’s faery children leave More dim abodes to roam the primrose-hearted eve, Opening their glimmering lips to breathe some
Winter
A DIAMOND glow of winter o’er the world: Amid the chilly halo nigh the west Flickers a phantom violet bloom unfurled Dim on the twilight’s breast. Only phantasmal blooms but for an hour, A
Self-Discipline
WHEN the soul sought refuge in the place of rest, Overborne by strife and pain beyond control, From some secret hollow, whisper soft-confessed, Came the legend of the soul. Some bright one of old
Pain
MEN have made them gods of love, Sun-gods, givers of the rain, Deities of hill and grove: I have made a god of Pain. Of my god I know this much, And in singing
Love
ERE I lose myself in the vastness and drowse myself with the peace, While I gaze on the light and the beauty afar from the dim homes of men, May I still feel the
The Burning-Glass
A SHAFT of fire that falls like dew, And melts and maddens all my blood, From out thy spirit flashes through The burning-glass of womanhood. Only so far; here must I stay: Nearer I
Carrowmore
IT’S a lonely road through bogland to the lake at Carrowmore, And a sleeper there lies dreaming where the water laps the shore; Though the moth-wings of the twilight in their purples are unfurled,
Hope in Failure
THOUGH now thou hast failed and art fallen, despair not because of defeat, Though lost for a while be thy heaven and weary of earth be thy feet, For all will be beauty about
Recall
WHAT call may draw thee back again, Lost dove, what art, what charm may please? The tender touch, the kiss, are vain, For thou wert lured away by these. Oh, must we use the
Night
HEART-HIDDEN from the outer things I rose; The spirit woke anew in nightly birth Unto the vastness where forever glows The star-soul of the earth. There all alone in primal ecstasy, Within her depths
To One Consecrated
YOUR paths were all unknown to us: We were so far away from you: We mixed in thought your spirit thus- With whiteness, stars of gold, and dew. The Mighty Mother nourished you; Her
Answer
THE WARMTH of life is quenched with bitter frost; Upon the lonely road a child limps by Skirting the frozen pools: our way is lost: Our hearts sink utterly. But from the snow-patched moorland
Alter Ego
ALL the morn a spirit gay Breathes within my heart a rhyme, ‘Tis but hide and seek we play In and out the courts of time. Fairy lover, when my feet Through the tangled
The Singing Silences
WHILE the yellow constellations shine with pale and tender glory, In the lilac-scented stillness let us listen to earth’s story. All the flowers like moths a-flutter glimmer rich with dusky hues; Everywhere around us
The Nuts of Knowledge
A CABIN on the mountain side hid in a grassy nook Where door and windows open wide that friendly stars may look. The rabbit shy can patter in, the winds may enter free, Who
The Golden Age
WHEN the morning breaks above us And the wild sweet stars have fled, By the faery hands that love us Wakened you and I will tread Where the lilacs on the lawn Shine with
A Farewell
I GO down from the hills half in gladness, and half with a pain I depart, Where the Mother with gentlest breathing made music on lip and in heart; For I know that my
The Everlasting Battle
WHEN in my shadowy hours I pierce the hidden heart of hopes and fears, They change into immortal joys or end in immemorial tears. Moytura’s battle still endures and in this human heart of
Day
IN day from some titanic past it seems As if a thread divine of memory runs; Born ere the Mighty One began his dreams, Or yet were stars and suns. But here an iron
Oversoul
THE EAST was crowned with snow-cold bloom And hung with veils of pearly fleece: They died away into the gloom, Vistas of peace-and deeper peace. And earth and air and wave and fire In
Transformations
WHAT miracle was it that made this grey Rathgar Seem holy earth, a leaping-place from star to star? I know I strode along grey streets disconsolate, Seeing nowhere a glimmer of the Glittering Gate,
The Earth Breath
FROM the cool and dark-lipped furrows Breathes a dim delight Through the woodland’s purple plumage To the diamond night. Aureoles of joy encircle Every blade of grass Where the dew-fed creatures silent And enraptured
Krishna
I PAUSED beside the cabin door and saw the King of Kings at play, Tumbled upon the grass I spied the little heavenly runaway. The mother laughed upon the child made gay by its
Rest
ON me to rest, my bird, my bird: The swaying branches of my heart Are blown by every wind toward The home whereto their wings depart. Build not your nest, my bird, on me;
The Dream of the Children
THE CHILDREN awoke in their dreaming While earth lay dewy and still: They followed the rill in its gleaming To the heart-light of the hill. Its sounds and sights were forsaking The world as
A New Theme
I FAIN would leave the tender songs I sang to you of old, Thinking the oft-sung beauty wrongs The magic never told. And touch no more the thoughts, the moods, That win the easy
The Last Hero
WE laid him to rest with tenderness; Homeward we turned in the twilight’s gold; We thought in ourselves with dumb distress- All the story of earth is told. A beautiful word at the last
The Voice of the Sea
THE SEA was hoary, hoary, Beating on rock and cave: The winds were white and weeping With foam dust of the wave. They thundered louder, louder, With storm-lips curled in scorn- And dost thou
The Divine Vision
THIS mood hath known all beauty, for it sees O’erwhelmed majesties In these pale forms, and kingly crowns of gold On brows no longer bold, And through the shadowy terrors of their hell The
On a Hillside
A FRIENDLY mountain I know; As I lie on the green slope there It sets my heart in a glow And closes the door on care. A thought I try to frame- I was
Immortality
WE must pass like smoke or live within the spirit’s fire; For we can no more than smoke unto the flame return If our thought has changed to dream, our will unto desire, As
Recollection
THROUGH the blue shadowy valley I hastened in a dream: Flower rich the night, flower soft the air, a blue flower the stream I hurried over before I came to the cabin door, Where
A Call
DUSK its ash-grey blossoms sheds on violet skies, Over twilight mountains where the heart songs rise, Rise and fall and fade away from earth to air. Earth renews the music sweeter. Oh, come there.
The Dawn of Darkness
COME earth’s little children pit-pat from their burrows on the hill; Hangs within the gloom its weary head the shining daffodil. In the valley underneath us through the fragrance flit along Over fields and
Inheritance
AS flow the rivers to the sea Adown from rocky hill or plain, A thousand ages toiled for thee And gave thee harvest of their gain; And weary myriads of yore Dug out for
Dusk
DUSK wraps the village in its dim caress; Each chimney’s vapour, like a thin grey rod, Mounting aloft through miles of quietness, Pillars the skies of God. Far up they break or seem to
The Hermit
NOW the quietude of earth Nestles deep my heart within; Friendships new and strange have birth Since I left the city’s din. Here the tempest stays its guile, Like a big kind brother plays,
A Memory
YOU remember, dear, together Two children, you and I, Sat once in the autumn weather, Watching the autumn sky. There was some one round us straying The whole of the long day through, Who
Blindness
OUR true hearts are forever lonely: A wistfulness is in our thought: Our lights are like the dawns which only Seem bright to us and yet are not. Something you see in me I
The Parting of Ways
THE SKIES from black to pearly grey Had veered without a star or sun; Only a burning opal ray Fell on your brow when all was done. Aye, after victory, the crown; Yet through
The Iron Age
HOW came this pigmy rabble spun, After the gods and kings of old, Upon a tapestry begun With threads of silver and of gold? In heaven began the heroic tale What meaner destinies prevail!
The Garden of God
WITHIN the iron cities One walked unknown for years, In his heart the pity of pities That grew for human tears. When love and grief were ended The flower of pity grew: By unseen
Warning
PURE at heart we wander now: Comrade on the quest divine, Turn not from the stars your brow That your eyes may rest on mine. Pure at heart we wander now: We have hopes
The Memory of Earth
IN the wet dusk silver sweet, Down the violet scented ways, As I moved with quiet feet I was met by mighty days. On the hedge the hanging dew Glassed the eve and stars
A Last Counsel
COULD you not in silence borrow Strength to go from us ungrieving? All these hours of loving sorrow Only make more bitter leaving. You will go forth lonely, thinking Of the pain you leave
The Hour of Twilight
WHEN the unquiet hours depart And far away their tumults cease, Within the twilight of the heart We bathe in peace, are stilled with peace. The fire that slew us through the day For
The City
WHAT domination of what darkness dies this hour, And through what new, rejoicing, winged, ethereal power O’erthrown, the cells opened, the heart released from fear? Gay twilight and grave twilight pass. The stars appear
Janus
IMAGE of beauty, when I gaze on thee, Trembling I waken to a mystery, How through one door we go to life or death By spirit kindled or the sensual breath. Image of beauty,
The Well of All-Healing
THERE’S a cure for sorrow in the well at Ballylee Where the scarlet cressets hang over the trembling pool: And joyful winds are blowing from the Land of Youth to me, And the heart
Reflections
HOW shallow is this mere that gleams! Its depth of blue is from the skies, And from a distant sun the dreams And lovely light within your eyes. We deem our love so infinite
The Feast of Age
SEE where the light streams over Connla’s fountain Starward aspire! The sacred sign upon the holy mountain Shines in white fire: Wavering and flaming yonder o’er the snows The diamond light Melts into silver
The Great Breath
ITS edges foamed with amethyst and rose, Withers once more the old blue flower of day: There where the ether like a diamond glows Its petals fade away. A shadowy tumult stirs the dusky
Destiny
LIKE winds or waters were her ways: The flowing tides, the airy streams, Are troubled not by any dreams; They know the circle of their days. Like winds or waters were her ways: They
Mistrust
YOU look at me with wan, bright eyes When in the deeper world I stray: You fear some hidden ambush lies In wait to call me, “Come away.” What if I see behind the
Ordeal
LOVE and pity are pleading with me this hour. What is this voice that stays me forbidding to yield, Offering beauty, love, and immortal power, Æons away in some far-off heavenly field? Though I
The Robing of the King
ON the bird of air blue-breasted glint the rays of gold, And its shadowy fleece above us waves the forest old, Far through rumorous leagues of midnight stirred by breezes warm. See the old
Mystery
WHY does this sudden passion smite me? I stretch my hands, all blind to see: I need the lamp of the world to light me, Lead me and set me free. Something a moment
The Mid-World
THIS is the red, red region Your heart must journey through: Your pains will here be legion And joy be death for you. Rejoice to-day: to-morrow A turning tide shall flow Through infinite tones
Desire
WITH Thee a moment! Then what dreams have play! Traditions of eternal toil arise, Search for the high, austere and lonely way The Spirit moves in through eternities. Ah, in the soul what memories
Children of Lir
WE woke from our sleep in the bosom where cradled together we lay: The love of the dark hidden Father went with us upon our way. And gay was the breath in our being,
Illusion
WHAT is the love of shadowy lips That know not what they seek or press, From whom the lure for ever slips And fails their phantom tenderness? The mystery and light of eyes That
Remembrance
THERE were many burning hours on the heartsweet tide, And we passed away from ourselves, forgetting all The immortal moods that faded, the god who died, Hastening away to the King on a distant
The Morning Star
IN the black pool of the midnight Lu has slung the morning star, And its foam in rippling silver whitens into day afar Falling on the mountain rampart piled with pearl above our glen,
The Vesture of the Soul
I PITIED one whose tattered dress Was patched, and stained with dust and rain; He smiled on me; I could not guess The viewless spirit’s wide domain. He said, “The royal robe I wear
Symbolism
NOW when the spirit in us wakes and broods, Filled with home yearnings, drowsily it flings From its deep heart high dreams and mystic moods, Mixed with the memory of the loved earth things:
The Symbol Seduces
THERE in her old-world garden smiles A symbol of the world’s desire, Striving with quaint and lovely wiles To bind to earth the soul of fire. And while I sit and listen there, The