7. A Cradle Song. Yeats, W. B. 1899. The Wind Among the Reeds

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939). The Wind Among the Reeds. 1899.

7. A Cradle Song

THE DANANN children laugh, in cradles of wrought gold,
And clap their hands together, and half close their eyes,
For they will ride the North when the ger-eagle flies,
With heavy whitening wings, and a heart fallen cold:
I kiss my wailing child and press it to my breast,	5
And hear the narrow graves calling my child and me.
Desolate winds that cry over the wandering sea;
Desolate winds that hover in the flaming West;
Desolate winds that beat the doors of Heaven, and beat
The doors of Hell and blow there many a whimpering ghost;	10
O heart the winds have shaken; the unappeasable host
Is comelier than candles before Maurya’s feet.