[_Who has
remained
at the tiller.
Yeats
AIBRIC.
Run at them now,
And overpower the crew while yet asleep!
[_The SAILORS go out. _
[_Voices and the clashing of swords are heard from the
other ship, which cannot be seen because of the sail. _
A VOICE.
Armed men have come upon us! O, I am slain!
ANOTHER VOICE.
Wake all below!
ANOTHER VOICE.
Why have you broken our sleep?
FIRST VOICE.
Armed men have come upon us! O, I am slain!
FORGAEL.
[_Who has remained at the tiller. _]
There! there they come! Gull, gannet, or diver,
But with a man's head, or a fair woman's,
They hover over the masthead awhile
To wait their friends; but when their friends have come
They'll fly upon that secret way of theirs.
One--and one--a couple--five together;
And I will hear them talking in a minute.
Yes, voices! but I do not catch the words.
Now I can hear. There's one of them that says:
'How light we are, now we are changed to birds! '
Another answers: 'Maybe we shall find
Our heart's desire now that we are so light. '
And then one asks another how he died,
And says: 'A sword-blade pierced me in my sleep. '
And now they all wheel suddenly and fly
To the other side, and higher in the air.
And now a laggard with a woman's head
Comes crying, 'I have run upon the sword.
I have fled to my beloved in the air,
In the waste of the high air, that we may wander
Among the windy meadows of the dawn. '
But why are they still waiting? why are they
Circling and circling over the masthead?
