Padraic Colum (1881–1972). Anthology of Irish Verse. 1922.
By Thomas Boyd63. The King’s Son
W
At such a headlong speed?
Naked and pale he rides amain
Upon a naked steed.
His wet steed shines like silk,
His head is golden to the stars
And his limbs are white as milk.
That lifts from a black mere,
And, as the fair youth wanes from sight,
The steed grows mightier.
Mutters unto the sky
Where Macha’s flame-tongued horses flee
On hoofs of thunder by?
The youth of kingly seed:
Ah! woe, the wasting of a man
Who changes to a steed!
When Macha’s day is nigh,
He gallops; and the dark wind brings
His lonely human cry.