Jessie B. Rittenhouse, ed. (1869–1948). The Second Book of Modern Verse. 1922.

The Dream of Aengus Og

WHEN the rose of Morn through the Dawn was breaking,

And white on the hearth was last night’s flame,

Thither to me ’twixt sleeping and waking,

Singing out of the mists she came.

And grey as the mists on the spectre meadows

Were the eyes that on my eyes she laid,

And her hair’s red splendor through the shadows

Like to the marsh-fire gleamed and played.

And she sang of the wondrous far-off places

That a man may only see in dreams,

The death-still, odorous, starlit spaces

Where Time is lost and no life gleams.

And there till the day had its crest uplifted,

She stood with her still face bent on me,

Then forth with the Dawn departing drifted

Light as a foam-fleck on the sea.

And now my heart is the heart of a swallow

That here no solace of rest may find,

Forevermore I follow and follow

Her white feet glancing down the wind.

And forevermore in my ears are ringing—

(Oh, red lips yet shall I kiss you dumb!)

Twain sole words of that May morn’s singing,

Calling to me “Hither”! and “Come”!

From flower-bright fields to the wild lake-sedges

Crying my steps when the Day has gone,

Till dim and small down the Night’s pale edges

The stars have fluttered one by one.

And light as the thought of a love forgotten,

The hours skim past, while before me flies

That face of the Sun and Mist begotten,

Its singing lips and death-cold eyes.