The Harp of Invermorn.
By Invermorn the deep sea laves1
The land with wrath of angry waves ;2
And the wild storm-winds evermore3
Around the rocky caverns roar.4
On Invermorn, above the strand,5
The old cathedral ruins stand ;6
And people say they hear at times7
The fairies faintly ringing chimes.8
“ O Helen, I must go to-night :9
My soul is filled with strange delight ;10
And I must hear that witching wile11
Within the old cathedral aisle ! ”12
“ O Willie, rest at home with me !13
I fear the moanings of the sea.14
They say who seeks that place forlorn,15
Will never wake the morrow’s morn. ”16
Within the twilight, all alone,17
He sought the dusky pile of stone,18
And clambered up the broken stair,19
To wait the moonbeams’ misty glare.20
He sat him in the gallery old,21
The boding night-winds whistled cold ;22
Afar he heard the breakers roar23
Along the dark and rocky shore.24
Lo ! then, above him and around,25
Awoke a wondrous, witching sound,26
That seemed to flutter everywhere,27
And fill with music all the air !28
With fear he swooned ; and in a dream29
He saw, lit up by pallid gleam30
Of moonlight in that gallery old,31
What living man may ne’er behold !32
A line of figures, clothed in white,33
Bore torches crowned with orange light ;34
Sound they made none ; no rustling dress35
Betrayed their silent loveliness.36
Slowly they came, with noiseless feet,37
The while a music, soft and sweet,38
Hung o’er them, like a cloud which holds39
An unseen lark within its folds.40
Upon their face dwelt a gleam—41
The distant sunshine of a dream ;42
And as they passed, with aspect mild,43
They looked upon him there and smiled.44
They drew his soul with them ; and he45
Grew listless as an ebbing sea.46
He saw them go. He lay alone.47
That smile had chilled his heart to stone.48
A young man sleeps on the ground of a cathedral. Five women (fairies in the poem)
walk in the background and look down at the
sleeping man. The women wear identical white dresses and carry torches above their
heads. 3/4-page illustration contained within a
single-ruled border.
At early dawn they came and found49
Him lying cold upon the ground ;50
A smile had closed his latest breath,51
And still survived the ice of death.52
A harp, placed there in ages gone,53
They saw within the hollow stone,54
Placed overhead that so it rang55
With every wind that wept or sang.56
And Helen sits and idly weeps57
For one who darkly, deeply sleeps58
Beneath the churchyard’s field of graves,59
Beside the moaning of the waves.60
Yet still they say he walks by night,61
When sea-winds murmur forth delight ;62
And then is heard that sound forlorn—63
The lonely harp of Invermorn.64