Hew Morrison Collection > Bolg solair

THE MERMAID'S LULLABY-
Scene in the Hebrides. Having carried off her loved one she casts a
last look on the abode of men, here called the Land of the Barley.
Some ruins, the scenes of former happiness, in the distance ; the
sun's rays are by degrees coming round. It is geas or taboo for her
that the sun shine on him whom she has carried off.
ni-n-^5«jjj ^j^g Kyles of Ot Otrim the seals there are sleeping.
Far away o'er the islands the sun's on the bay ;
^nd no voice is heard, but the wavelets are meeting
The wild geese greeting the coming of day.
Heavy moans in far ocean the storms may betoken,—
Comes the swan's note at morning here calling for me :
Oh, hearken ! oh, hear it 1 its free voice hath spoken
Clearly, and near me my home is the sea.
In the Land of the Barley man's sorrows may waken.
The world's woes may ripen, the world's woes stay —
But me and my loved one ever roam 'neath the breakers,
Deathless and ageless our home's far away.
GEORGE HENDERSON.
The Manse of Edrachilis,
Scourie, Sutherland.
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