DRUIDESS
Oh, wandering water fallen from thy rest,
Among the hills in many secret streams,
What dream dost thou bear away to the West,
Where the Atlantic waits for all our dreams?
Thy creeping footsteps fill the night with sound
And silence, gliding through the windless tent,
Still as deep waters that flow underground,
Dark with the vision of a fierce event.
Like children struggling on the breast of night,
The image of the slayer and the slain
Float past in trembling waves of broken light
With running water for their battle plain.
Oh, Mannanan, call all thy streams to thee,
Be thy voice heard above the silvery din
Till restless rivers find the untroubled sea
And every little wave is gathered in.
MAEVE
Druidess!
DRUIDESS
What is thy will?
MAEVE
I have come here
Straight from the battle: I would know the end.
DRUIDESS
The end is peace.
MAEVE
Speak plainly, friend, no fear
Is in my soul. Plain words do but offend
The timid. What dost thou see in the stream?
DRUIDESS
A victory such as the poets sing
And the unbroken triumph of a dream.
MAEVE
I would break the pride of the Red Branch King.
DRUIDESS
Deirdre shall be avenged.
MAEVE
Is it even so?
Why dost thou tremble, Druidess, and turn pale?
DRUIDESS
I have seen another sight, a vision of woe.
MAEVE
A false dream surely; shall this great host fail?
DRUIDESS
I have seen the bearers carrying the dead.
MAEVE
All men must die; the battle hours hold
A short and painless death. . . .
DRUIDESS
Oh, so much bloodshed
Has dulled the vision. . . .
MAEVE
Thy tale is but half told;
What seest thou?
DRUIDESS
Oh, Maeve hold thou thy shield
Before the breast of her thou lovest most,
See to her safety on the battle-field.
May the kind gods who march beside the host
Protect her.
MAEVE
Fionavar! Fionavar!
FIONAVAR
What wouldst thou, Maeve? I wait here for thy will.
MAEVE
Fleeas goes with me in the battle-car:
Go thou to thy tent. . . . .
FIONAVAR
What have I done?
MAEVE
Naught. Be still.
The omens are evil: go thou to thy tent.
Wait there in peace; the battle is not for thee
To-day. Have pity, child, my soul is rent
With fear.
DRUIDESS
It is the will of the ever-blessed Sidhe.
MAEVE
Fionavar, where art thou?
FIONAVAR
At thy side. . . .
MAEVE
A cold hand touched me. . . . .
FIONAVAR
Waves of chilling air
Darken the world. . . . .
MAEVE
The crowding shadows glide
About us. . . . .
FIONAVAR
The faces of the gods are very fair,
The earth rocks underneath their scornful tread.
A VOICE
Ioldana, why hast thou hurled thy spear
Into the world?
ANOTHER VOICE
The living and the dead
Have met in the crashing of a broken sphere.
FIRST VOICE
The lance should have lain among lifeless things
Made drowsy with poppies steeped in Mandragore.
A VOICE
Red is the blood on thy birds' wings,
Angus!
A VOICE
There is one here I know not.
ANOTHER VOICE
A God of War,
A new and terrible god. . . . .
A VOICE
Oh, stranger Lord,
Bid the spheres part and all this tumult cease. . . . .
ANOTHER VOICE
Thy soul has come amongst us like a sword. . . . .
Leave us in peace — leave us in peace.
FIRST VOICE
Pass on thy way, bid the struck earth be still.
What have we to do with thee, pass on thy way.
A VOICE
Thou hast put out the sun with thy wild will.
A SHRIEKING CRY
Where is the sunshine, give us back the day!
DRUIDESS
Oh! Mannanan, call all thy streams to thee,
Be thy voice heard above their silvery din
Till restless rivers find the untroubled sea
And every little wave be lost therein.
MAEVE
The gods have given a sign — the ground shook
And sank beneath us like a sinking wave,
I have read of such things in an ancient book.
FIONAVAR
May the gods pity a tortured slave!
MAEVE
Alas! alas! my soul is full of fear
And evil boding.
DRUIDESS
Hast thou no pity then
For the death of a god? Oh Queen, the crystal sphere
Is broken, and a new star gone forth. . . . .
Oh, wandering water fallen from thy rest,
Among the hills in many secret streams,
What dream dost thou bear away to the West,
Where the Atlantic waits for all our dreams?
Thy creeping footsteps fill the night with sound
And silence, gliding through the windless tent,
Still as deep waters that flow underground,
Dark with the vision of a fierce event.
Like children struggling on the breast of night,
The image of the slayer and the slain
Float past in trembling waves of broken light
With running water for their battle plain.
Oh, Mannanan, call all thy streams to thee,
Be thy voice heard above the silvery din
Till restless rivers find the untroubled sea
And every little wave is gathered in.
MAEVE
Druidess!
DRUIDESS
What is thy will?
MAEVE
I have come here
Straight from the battle: I would know the end.
DRUIDESS
The end is peace.
MAEVE
Speak plainly, friend, no fear
Is in my soul. Plain words do but offend
The timid. What dost thou see in the stream?
DRUIDESS
A victory such as the poets sing
And the unbroken triumph of a dream.
MAEVE
I would break the pride of the Red Branch King.
DRUIDESS
Deirdre shall be avenged.
MAEVE
Is it even so?
Why dost thou tremble, Druidess, and turn pale?
DRUIDESS
I have seen another sight, a vision of woe.
MAEVE
A false dream surely; shall this great host fail?
DRUIDESS
I have seen the bearers carrying the dead.
MAEVE
All men must die; the battle hours hold
A short and painless death. . . .
DRUIDESS
Oh, so much bloodshed
Has dulled the vision. . . .
MAEVE
Thy tale is but half told;
What seest thou?
DRUIDESS
Oh, Maeve hold thou thy shield
Before the breast of her thou lovest most,
See to her safety on the battle-field.
May the kind gods who march beside the host
Protect her.
MAEVE
Fionavar! Fionavar!
FIONAVAR
What wouldst thou, Maeve? I wait here for thy will.
MAEVE
Fleeas goes with me in the battle-car:
Go thou to thy tent. . . . .
FIONAVAR
What have I done?
MAEVE
Naught. Be still.
The omens are evil: go thou to thy tent.
Wait there in peace; the battle is not for thee
To-day. Have pity, child, my soul is rent
With fear.
DRUIDESS
It is the will of the ever-blessed Sidhe.
MAEVE
Fionavar, where art thou?
FIONAVAR
At thy side. . . .
MAEVE
A cold hand touched me. . . . .
FIONAVAR
Waves of chilling air
Darken the world. . . . .
MAEVE
The crowding shadows glide
About us. . . . .
FIONAVAR
The faces of the gods are very fair,
The earth rocks underneath their scornful tread.
A VOICE
Ioldana, why hast thou hurled thy spear
Into the world?
ANOTHER VOICE
The living and the dead
Have met in the crashing of a broken sphere.
FIRST VOICE
The lance should have lain among lifeless things
Made drowsy with poppies steeped in Mandragore.
A VOICE
Red is the blood on thy birds' wings,
Angus!
A VOICE
There is one here I know not.
ANOTHER VOICE
A God of War,
A new and terrible god. . . . .
A VOICE
Oh, stranger Lord,
Bid the spheres part and all this tumult cease. . . . .
ANOTHER VOICE
Thy soul has come amongst us like a sword. . . . .
Leave us in peace — leave us in peace.
FIRST VOICE
Pass on thy way, bid the struck earth be still.
What have we to do with thee, pass on thy way.
A VOICE
Thou hast put out the sun with thy wild will.
A SHRIEKING CRY
Where is the sunshine, give us back the day!
DRUIDESS
Oh! Mannanan, call all thy streams to thee,
Be thy voice heard above their silvery din
Till restless rivers find the untroubled sea
And every little wave be lost therein.
MAEVE
The gods have given a sign — the ground shook
And sank beneath us like a sinking wave,
I have read of such things in an ancient book.
FIONAVAR
May the gods pity a tortured slave!
MAEVE
Alas! alas! my soul is full of fear
And evil boding.
DRUIDESS
Hast thou no pity then
For the death of a god? Oh Queen, the crystal sphere
Is broken, and a new star gone forth. . . . .