XIII

Out of the deep, my dream, out of the deep,

A little child came to him in his sleep

And led him back to what was Paradise

Before 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 eyes

That 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 came

And 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 ideal

And she the rich, the incarnate, breathing real

Are one; for me thou never canst attain

But 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 eyes

Thou 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 sea

Grew quieter than the hills: the mystery

Of ocean, earth and sky was like a word

Uttered, but all unheard,

Uttered by every wave and cloud and leaf

With all the immortal glory of mortal grief;

And every wave that broke its heart of gold

In music on the rainbow-dazzled shore

Seemed telling, strangely telling, evermore

A story that must still remain untold.

Oh, Once upon a time, and o'er and o'er

As aye the Happy ever after came

The enchanted waves lavished their faery lore

And tossed a foam-bow and a rosy flame

Around the whispers of the creaming foam,

Till the old rapture with the new sweet name

Through all the old romance began to roam.