Narrative and Dramatic Poems: watercolour book cover

A collection of poems

Narrative and Dramatic Poems

7 poems

The "Narrative and Dramatic" section of Collected Poems (1933): The Wanderings of Oisin (1889), The Old Age of Queen Maeve (1903), Baile and Aillinn (1903), The Shadowy Waters (1906 text), The Two Kings (1914), The Gift of Harun Al-Rashid (1923).

  1. 1The Wanderings of OisinYou who are bent, and bald, and blind,An old Fenian hero tells St Patrick of three centuries in fairyland.
  2. 2The Old Age of Queen MaeveMaeve the great queen was pacing to and fro,Old Queen Maeve helps the love god Aengus win his bride.
  3. 3Baile and AillinnI hardly hear the curlew cry,Two lovers tricked into dying of grief are united among the immortals.
  4. 4The Shadowy Waters (Introductory Lines)I walked among the seven woods of Coole,Walking Coole's seven woods, the poet salutes the unseen immortal shadows.
  5. 5The Harp of AengusEdain came out of Midher's hill, and layThe god of love makes a harp for his lost beloved.
  6. 6The Two KingsKing Eochaid came at sundown to a woodA queen of Tara chooses mortal love over a king from the otherworld.
  7. 7The Gift of Harun Al-RashidKusta ben Luka is my name, I writeAn old scholar's young wife speaks strange wisdom in her sleep.