O'Driscoll drove with a song The wild duck and the drake From the tall and the tufted reeds Of the drear Hart Lake. And he saw how the reeds grew dark At the coming of night tide, And dreamed of the long dim hair Of Bridget his bride. He heard while he sang and dreamed A piper piping away, And never was piping so sad, And never was piping so gay. And he saw young men and young girls Who danced on a level place, And Bridget his bride among them, With a sad and a gay face. The dancers crowded about him, And many a sweet thing said, And a young man brought him red wine And a young girl white bread. But Bridget drew him by the sleeve, Away from the merry bands, To old men playing at cards With a twinkling of ancient hands. The bread and the wine had a doom, For these were the host of the air; He sat and played in a dream Of her long dim hair. He played with the merry old men And thought not of evil chance, Until one bore Bridget his bride Away from the merry dance. He bore her away in his arms, The handsomest young man there, And his neck and his breast and his arms Were drowned in her long dim hair. O'Driscoll scattered the cards And out of his dream awoke: Old men and young men and young girls Were gone like a drifting smoke; But he heard high up in the air A piper piping away And never was piping so sad, And never was piping so gay. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE VOICE OF THE RAIN by WALT WHITMAN SONNET: AT MY WORD by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON SONG by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE THE NIGHT OF THE DEAD by JULIEN AUGUSTE PELAGE BRIZEUX BRITANNIA'S PASTORALS: BOOK 1. THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY TO THE READER by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) IN THE GRASS by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON A PLAIN ACCOUNT OF THE NATURE AND DESIGN OF TRUE RELIGION by JOHN BYROM |