Books and other items printed in Gaelic from 1871 to 1900 > Gaelic bards, and original poems

ALEXANDER MACDONALD.
19
THE MAN SET ASIDE FOR THE HALYARD.
At the halyard place this wight
Who is no sloven,
But athletic, full of might,
Skilled and well-proven.
Careful ever, free of haste,
With dark frowns ready;
And to guide his rope well placed,
Dainty but not heady.
With a tug and with a twist
The sail restraining,
Bending downward on his fist,
And strongly straining,
Hard and fast he must not tie
The tough tight rope;
He only dares a loose loop try,
Giving it scope
To run freely and to fly,
And murmur hoarse
Round the peg, with hum and cry,
So swift its course.
The reporter of the waters about to be set aside, and
just then the sea getting too rough, the steersman says
of him:—
Let a man to watch the rain-squall
Quick, come nigh;
And sharply on the weather’s heart
Let him keep his eye.
Choose me a man half-frighten’d,
Cautious, sly;
But not a coward out and out,
And let him pry,
With curious watch, until the shower,
He rippling spy;