THE NECKAN
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n summer, on the headlands,The Baltic Sea along,Sits Neckan with his harp of gold,And sings his plaintive song. Green rolls beneath the headlands,Green rolls the Baltic Sea;And there, below the Neckan's feet,His wife and children be. He sings not of the ocean,Its shells and roses pale;Of earth, of earth the Neckan sings,He hath no other tale. He sits upon the headlands,And sings a mournful staveOf all he saw and felt on earthFar from the kind sea-wave. Sings how, a knight, he wander'dBy castle, field, and town--But earthly knights have harder heartsThan the sea-children own. Sings of his earthly bridal--Priest, knights, and ladies gay."--And who art thou," the priest began,"Sir Knight, who wedd'st to-day?"-- "--I am no knight," he answered;"From the sea-waves I come."--The knights drew sword, the ladies scream'd,The surpliced priest stood dumb. He sings how from the chapelHe vanish'd with his bride,And bore her down to the sea-halls,Beneath the salt sea-tide. He sings how she sits weeping'Mid shells that round her lie."--False Neckan shares my bed," she weeps;"No Christian mate have I."-- He sings how through the billowsHe rose to earth again,And sought a priest to sign the cross,That Neckan Heaven might gain. He sings how, on an evening,Beneath the birch-trees cool,He sate and play'd his harp of gold,Beside the river-pool. Beside the pool sate Neckan--Tears fill'd his mild blue eye.On his white mule, across the bridge,A cassock'd priest rode by. "--Why sitt'st thou there, O Neckan,And play'st thy harp of gold?Sooner shall this my staff bear leaves,Than thou shalt Heaven behold."-- But, lo, the staff, it budded!It green'd, it branch'd, it waved."--O ruth of God," the priest cried out,"This lost sea-creature saved!" The cassock'd priest rode onwards,And vanished with his mule;But Neckan in the twilight greyWept by the river-pool. He wept: "The earth hath kindness,The sea, the starry poles;Earth, sea, and sky, and God above--But, ah, not human souls!" In summer, on the headlands,The Baltic Sea along,Sits Neckan with his harp of gold,And sings this plaintive song.
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