A SONG OF CALDEY (TO THE PRIOR AND BENEDICTINE BRETHREN ON THE ISLAND) by ARTHUR GLYN PRYS-JONES

I

THE red roofs of Caldey are gleaming in the sun,
And Caldey sands grow golden as the long days run;
And there is peace in Caldey, for there comes on every side
The singing and the laughter and the calling of the tide.

II

White gulls are wheeling in the warm, spring sky,
And brown sails swaying as the boats swing by,
And high upon the cliff-lands amid her courtier trees
There sits the Queen of Pembrokeshire enthroned above the seas.

III

And the ocean pays her homage, and the rocks and all the isles,
Carmarthen nods across the bay, and far Glamorgan smiles,
And she holds them by their heartstrings—oh—she keeps their love in
thrall—
But her beauty is for Caldey, and shy Caldey takes it all.

IV

And to Caldey men have wandered since the far, forgotten years
Seeking wisdom, seeking heaven, seeking solace from their tears;
And on Caldey men have sought the Grail and seen it in the West
Shining like the isles of sunset where the heroes are at rest.

V

And on Caldey men seek quiet, and they built a house of prayer
Where all may hear the praise of God for ever rising there,
And there a silver altar blooms, and there they surely pray
That the glory of the land they love shall never pass away.

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