| Padraic Colum (1881–1972). Anthology of Irish Verse. 1922. |
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| 66. The Fairy Lover |
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| By Moireen Fox |
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| 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. | |
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| I dare not pray lest I should forget his face | 5 |
| (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. | |
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| They tell me I am cursed and I will lose my soul, | |
| (O red wind shrieking o’er the thorn-grown dún!) | 10 |
| But he is my love and I go to him to-night, | |
| Who rides when the thorn glistens white beneath the moon. | |
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| 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 | 15 |
| If I have but the kisses of his proud red mouth. | |
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