The
Lords of Shadow
by
William Sharp
Where
the water whispers 'mid the shadowy rowan-trees
I
have heard the Hidden People like the hum of swarming bees:
And
when the moon has risen and the brown burn glisters grey
I
have seen the Green Host marching in laughing disarray.
Dalua
then must sure have blown a sudden magic air
Or
with the mystic dew have sealed my eyes from seeing fair:
For
the great Lords of Shadow who tread the deeps of night
Are
no frail puny folk who move in dread of mortal sight.
For
sure Dalua laughed alow, Dalua the fairy Fool,
When
with his wildfire eyes he saw me 'neath the rowan-shaded pool:
His
touch can make the chords of life a bitter jangling tune,
The
false glows true, the true glows false beneath his moon-tide rune.
The
laughter of the Hidden Host is terrible to hear,
The
Hounds of Death would harry me at lifting of a spear:
Mayhap
Dalua made for me the hum of swarming bees
And
sealed my eyes with dew beneath the shadowy rowan-trees.
WILLIAM SHARP
POETRY PAGE