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.
(Dora Sigerson Shorter)
More Poetry from Dora Sigerson Shorter:
Dora Sigerson Shorter Poems based on Topics: Cry, Man, Woman, Hair, Kiss- The Me Within Thee Blind! (Dora Sigerson Shorter Poems)
- Earl Roderick's Bride (Dora Sigerson Shorter Poems)
- Madge Linsey, Or The Three Souls (Dora Sigerson Shorter Poems)
- The Bard Of Breffney (Dora Sigerson Shorter Poems)
- My Lady's Slipper (Dora Sigerson Shorter Poems)
- The Deer-Stone (Dora Sigerson Shorter Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, Cry Poems, Woman Poems, Hair Poems, Kiss PoemsBased on Keywords: molly, banshee, galway, boreen, reilly, keens, keened, half-maddened
- The Helot (Isabella Valancy Crawford Poems)
- The Believer's Soliloquy; Especially in Times of Desertion, Temptation, Affliction (Ralph Erskine Poems)
- The School-Boy (Oliver Wendell Holmes Poems)
- The School Of The Heart. Lesson The First (Henry Alford Poems)
- The Three Gossips' Wager (Jean de La Fontaine Poems)