The wind has bundled up the clouds high over Knocknarea
And thrown the thunder on the stones for all that Maeve can say.
Angers that are like noisy clouds have set our hearts abeat;
But we have all bent low and low and kissed the quiet feet
Of Cathleen the daughter of Houlihan.
The yellow pool has overflowed high up on Clooth-na-Bare,
For the wet winds are blowing out of the clinging air;
Like heavy flooded waters our bodies and our blood;
But purer than a tall candle before the Holy Rood
Is Cathleen the daughter of Houlihan.
THE OLD MEN ADMIRING THEMSELVES IN THE WATER
I heard the old, old men say
'Everything alters,
And one by one we drop away'.
They had hands like claws, and their knees
Were twisted like the old thorn trees
By the waters.
I heard the old old men say
'All that's beautiful drifts away
Like the waters.'
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