A Pastoral Ballad II: Hope
July 6, 2023Witches Chant (from Macbeth)
July 6, 2023On A Nightingale In April
The yellow moon is a dancing phantom
Down secret ways of the flowing shade;
And the waveless stream has a murmuring whisper
Where the alders wave.
Not a breath, not a sigh, save the slow stream’s whisper:
Only the moon is a dancing blade
That leads a host of the Crescent warriors
To a phantom raid.
Out of the Lands of Faerie a summons,
A long, strange cry that thrills through the glade: –
The gray-green glooms of the elm are stirring,
Newly afraid.
Last heard, white music, under the olives
Where once Theocritus sang and played –
Thy Thracian song is the old new wonder,
O moon-white maid!
William Sharp
William Sharp (1855-1905) was a Scottish writer who wrote under the pseudonym "Fiona MacLeod." He was a poet, novelist, biographer, and literary critic. His poetry was often inspired by Celtic and Norse mythology, as well as the Scottish landscape. Some of his most famous works include the poetry collections "The Mountain Lovers" and "The Washer of the Ford."