Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Ireland: Vol. V. 1876–79.
ODonohues Mistress
By Thomas Moore (17791852)O
In light-linked dance their circles run,
Sweet May, shine thou for me;
For still, when thy earliest beams arise,
That youth who beneath the blue lake lies,
Sweet May, returns to me.
Its lingering smile on golden eves,
Fair lake, thou ’rt dearest to me;
For when the last April sun grows dim,
Thy Naiads prepare his steed for him
Who dwells, bright lake, in thee.
Young plumed chiefs on sea or shore,
White steed, most joy to thee;
Who still, with the first young glance of spring,
From under that glorious lake dost bring
My love, my chief, to me.
When newly launched, thy long mane curls,
Fair steed, as white and free;
And spirits, from all the lake’s deep bowers,
Glide o’er the blue wave scattering flowers
Around my love and thee.
Whose lovers beneath the cold wave lie,
Most sweet that death will be
Which, under the next May evening’s light,
When thou and thy steed are lost to sight,
Dear love, I ’ll die for thee.