Poem XIII

Out of the deep, my dream, out of the deep,A little child came to him in his sleepAnd led him back to what was ParadiseBefore the years had darkened in his eyes,And showed him what he ne'er could lose again--The light that once enshrined the child Etain.

Ah, was it Yrma with those radiant eyesThat came to greet and lead him through the skies;Ay; all the world was one wide rose-white flame,As down the path to meet him Yrma cameAnd caught the child up in her arms and cried,This is my child that moved in Etain's side,Thy child and Etain's: I the unknown idealAnd she the rich, the incarnate, breathing realAre one; for me thou never canst attainBut by the love I yield thee for Etain;Even as through Christ thy soul allays its dearth,Love's heaven is only compassed upon earth;And by that love, in thine own Etain's eyesThou shalt find all God's untranscended skies.

As of old, as of old, with Etain that day,Over the hills, and far away,He roamed thro' the fairy forests of fern:Two young lovers were they.

And God sighed in the sunset, and the seaGrew quieter than the hills: the mysteryOf ocean, earth and sky was like a wordUttered, but all unheard,Uttered by every wave and cloud and leafWith all the immortal glory of mortal grief;And every wave that broke its heart of goldIn music on the rainbow-dazzled shoreSeemed telling, strangely telling, evermoreA story that must still remain untold.

Oh, Once upon a time, and o'er and o'erAs aye the Happy ever after cameThe enchanted waves lavished their faery lore

And tossed a foam-bow and a rosy flameAround the whispers of the creaming foam,Till the old rapture with the new sweet nameThrough all the old romance began to roam.