by G. R. Grove
By the sea she walked; from the sea he came,
a man with eyes full of silver flame.
When he spoke to her, and he called her name,
she knew that to grant his wish was no shame.
“I will give you a son full of magic strong;
I will give you a story fit for song:
for your lord’s away, and the nights are long—
come and lie with me, and we’ll do no wrong.”
“Oh, in Alban far my husband fights,
and true is your word of my lonely nights,
but how shall I set this wrong aright
if I lie with you for a son so bright?”
“Oh, I will journey to Alban far,
and take your man’s place in his deadly war,
and when he returns, there shall be no bar
to telling him true what our bargains are—
“For our son shall be great Finn reborn,
a hairy lad, and as sharp as a thorn;
and I’ll teach him my arts, or I’ll be forsworn,
if you lie with me till the morrow’s morn.”
“I will lie with you, if you tell me true,
that never shall I be the worse for you.” —
“Oh, your lord and your son shall safe be, too;
I swear by my name you will nothing rue.”
By the sea she walked; from the sea he came,
a man with eyes full of silver flame.
When he spoke to her, and he called her name,
she knew that to grant his wish was no shame.
