Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TALES, by JOHN LEE HIGGINS



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TALES, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Often at sea, when fishing nets are down
Last Line: Still keep their fairies singing on the weirs.
Subject(s): Fish & Fishing; Ireland; Sailing & Sailors; Anglers; Irish; Seamen; Sails


Often at sea, when fishing nets are down,
And pipes are lit, and night begins to lower,
Men listen, while their hard sea faces frown,
To stories of the ghost of Malinmore.
And far beyond the creaking of the boats,
Before the turf-fires, folks are gathered round,
The table cleared, the cattle fed their oats,
To hear these tales of pity to the sound
Of whirling leaves and winds against the latch,
Of Queenly Maeve and Dierdre, tales of old
They learned from chap-books weathered in the thatch,
Or hearing them so often they were told.
These simple folk, whose laughter is half tears,
Still keep their fairies singing on the weirs.





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