COLLECTED POEMS
And there were the pipes, and there was the punch,
And somewhere were twelve years ;
So it came, in the manner of things unsought,
That a quick knock vexed our ears.
The night wind hovered and shrieked and snarled,
And I heard Fingal swear ;
Then I opened the door but I found no more
Than a chalk-skinned woman there.
I looked, and at last, "What is it?" I said
"What is it that we can do ?"
But never a word could I get from her
But "You you three it is you!"
Now the sense of a crazy speech like that
Was more than a man could make;
So I said, "But we we are what, we three?"
And I saw the creature shake.
"Be quick !" she cried, "for I left her dead
And I was afraid to come;
But you, you three God made it be
Will ferry the dead girl home.
"Be quick! be quick! but listen to that
Who is that makes it ? hark !"
But I heard no more than a knocking splash
And a wind that shook the dark.
"It is only the wind that blows," I said,
"And the boat that rocks outside."
And I watched her there, and I pitied her there
"Be quick ! be quick !" she cried.
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