If I lost them
Straying too far into the north or south,
I'd never come upon the happiness
That has been promised me.
Straying too far into the north or south,
I'd never come upon the happiness
That has been promised me.
Yeats
I'd say it
Even if Forgael had not been my master
From earliest childhood, but that being so,
If you will draw that sword out of its scabbard
I'll give my answer.
FIRST SAILOR.
You have awaked him.
[_To SECOND SAILOR. _
We'd better go, for we have lost this chance.
[_They go out. _
FORGAEL.
Have the birds passed us? I could hear your voice.
But there were others.
AIBRIC.
I have seen nothing pass.
FORGAEL.
You're certain of it? I never wake from sleep
But that I am afraid they may have passed,
For they're my only pilots.
If I lost them
Straying too far into the north or south,
I'd never come upon the happiness
That has been promised me. I have not seen them
These many days; and yet there must be many
Dying at every moment in the world,
And flying towards their peace.
AIBRIC.
Put by these thoughts,
And listen to me for awhile. The sailors
Are plotting for your death.
FORGAEL.
Have I not given
More riches than they ever hoped to find?
And now they will not follow, while I seek
The only riches that have hit my fancy.
AIBRIC.
What riches can you find in this waste sea
Where no ship sails, where nothing that's alive
Has ever come but those man-headed birds,
Knowing it for the world's end?
FORGAEL.
Where the world ends
The mind is made unchanging, for it finds
Miracle, ecstasy, the impossible hope,
The flagstone under all, the fire of fires,
The roots of the world.
AIBRIC.
Who knows that shadows
May not have driven you mad for their own sport?
FORGAEL.
Do you, too, doubt me?
Even if Forgael had not been my master
From earliest childhood, but that being so,
If you will draw that sword out of its scabbard
I'll give my answer.
FIRST SAILOR.
You have awaked him.
[_To SECOND SAILOR. _
We'd better go, for we have lost this chance.
[_They go out. _
FORGAEL.
Have the birds passed us? I could hear your voice.
But there were others.
AIBRIC.
I have seen nothing pass.
FORGAEL.
You're certain of it? I never wake from sleep
But that I am afraid they may have passed,
For they're my only pilots.
If I lost them
Straying too far into the north or south,
I'd never come upon the happiness
That has been promised me. I have not seen them
These many days; and yet there must be many
Dying at every moment in the world,
And flying towards their peace.
AIBRIC.
Put by these thoughts,
And listen to me for awhile. The sailors
Are plotting for your death.
FORGAEL.
Have I not given
More riches than they ever hoped to find?
And now they will not follow, while I seek
The only riches that have hit my fancy.
AIBRIC.
What riches can you find in this waste sea
Where no ship sails, where nothing that's alive
Has ever come but those man-headed birds,
Knowing it for the world's end?
FORGAEL.
Where the world ends
The mind is made unchanging, for it finds
Miracle, ecstasy, the impossible hope,
The flagstone under all, the fire of fires,
The roots of the world.
AIBRIC.
Who knows that shadows
May not have driven you mad for their own sport?
FORGAEL.
Do you, too, doubt me?
