66. The Fairy Lover

IT was by yonder thorn I saw the fairy host

(O low night wind, O wind of the west!)

My love rode by, there was gold upon his brow,

And since that day I can neither eat nor rest.

I dare not pray lest I should forget his face

(O black north wind blowing cold beneath the sky!)

His face and his eyes shine between me and the sun:

If I may not be with him I would rather die.

They tell me I am cursed and I will lose my soul,

(O red wind shrieking o’er the thorn-grown dún!)

But he is my love and I go to him to-night,

Who rides when the thorn glistens white beneath the moon.

He will call my name and lift me to his breast,

(Blow soft O wind ’neath the stars of the south!)

I care not for heaven and I fear not hell

If I have but the kisses of his proud red mouth.