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.
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.
Yeats
_
[_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?
What power that is more mighty than desire
To hurry to their hidden happiness
Withholds them now? Have the ever-living ones
A meaning in that circling overhead?
But what's the meaning?
[_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?
What power that is more mighty than desire
To hurry to their hidden happiness
Withholds them now? Have the ever-living ones
A meaning in that circling overhead?
But what's the meaning?
