NOW God between us and all harm, For I to-night have seen A banshee in the shadow pass Along the dark boreen. And as she went she keened and cried And combed her long white hair, She stopped at Molly Reilly's door, And sobbed till midnight there. And is it for himself she moans, Who is so far away? Or is it Molly Reilly's death She cries until the day? Now Molly thinks her man is gone A sailor lad to be; She puts a candle at her door Each night for him to see. But he is off to Galway town, (And who dare tell her this?) Enchanted by a woman's eyes, Half-maddened by her kiss. So as we go by Molly's door We look towards the sea, And say, "May God bring home your lad, Wherever he may be." I pray it may be Molly's self The banshee keens and cries, For who dare breathe the tale to her, Be it her man who dies? But there is sorrow on the way, For I to-night have seen A banshee in the shadow pass Along the dark boreen. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 3. AMARYLLIS by THOMAS CAMPION UPON JULIA'S CLOTHES by ROBERT HERRICK EPIGRAM: 14. TO WILLIAM CAMDEN by BEN JONSON CATHOLIC HYMN by EDGAR ALLAN POE TO --, WITH ARTHUR AND ALBINA by MATILDA BARBARA BETHAM-EDWARDS IT'S ONLY FAIR by BERTON BRALEY HIGHLAND HARRY by ROBERT BURNS |