Ah, once of old in some forgotten tongue,
Forgotten land, I was a shepherd boy,
And you a Nereid, a wingèd joy:

On through the dawn-bright peaks our bodies swung

And flower-soft lyrics by immortals sung

Fell from their unseen pinnacles in air: God looked from Heaven that hour, for were fair,

And I a poet, and the star was young.

you

Shepherd Boy and Nereid

You'd heard my woodland pipe and left the sea Your hair blown gold and all your body white Had left the ocean-girls to follow me.

We joined the hill-nymphs in their joyous flight, And you laughed lightly to the sea, and sent Quick glances flashing through me as I went.

Oh, down the quick river our galley is going,
With a sound in the cordage, a beam on the

sail :

The wind of the canyon our loose hair is blowing, And the clouds of the morning are glad of the

gale.

Around the swift prow little billows are breaking, And flinging their foam in a glory of light; Now the shade of a rock on the river is shaking, And a wave leaps high up growing suddenly

white.

A Song at the Start

The weight of the whole world is light as a

feather,

And the peaks rise in silence and westerly flee: Oh, the world and the poet are singing together, And from the far cliff comes a sound of the sea.

My Comrade

I never build a song by night or day,
Of breaking ocean or of blowing whin,
But in some wondrous unexpected way,
Like light upon a road, my Love comes in.

And when I go at night upon the hill,

My heart is lifted on mysterious wings: My Love is there to strengthen and to still, For she can take away the dread of things.