THE HOST OF THE AIR
 
 O'DRISCOLL drove with a song
 The wild duck and the drake
 From the tall and the tufted reeds
 Of the drear Hart Lake.
 And he saw how the reeds grew dark
 At the coming of night-tide,
 And dreamed of the long dim hair
 Of Bridget his bride.
 He heard while he sang and dreamed
 A piper piping away,
 And never was piping so sad,
 And never was piping so gay.
 And he saw young men and young girls
 Who danced on a level place,
 And Bridget his bride among them,
 With a sad and a gay face.
 The dancers crowded about him
 And many a sweet thing said,
 And a young man brought him red wine
 And a young girl white bread.
 But Bridget drew him by the sleeve
 Away from the merry bands,
 To old men playing at cards
 With a twinkling of ancient hands.
 The bread and the wine had a doom,
 For these were the host of the air;
 He sat and played in a dream
 Of her long dim hair.
 He played with the merry old men
 And thought not of evil chance,
 Until one bore Bridget his bride
 Away from the merry dance.
 He bore her away in his atms,
 The handsomest young man there,
 And his neck and his breast and his arms
 Were drowned in her long dim hair.
 O'Driscoll scattered the cards
 And out of his dream awoke:
 Old men and young men and young girls
 Were gone like a drifting smoke;
 But he heard high up in the air
 A piper piping away,
 And never was piping so sad,
 And never was piping so gay.