THE CHANGELING

 

"Ahoy, and ahoy!"'Twixt mocking and merry—"Ahoy and ahoy, there,Young man of the ferry!"She stood on the stepsIn the watery gloom—That Changeling—"Ahoy, there!"She called him to come.He came on the green wave,He came on the grey,Where stooped that sweet ladyThat still summer's day.He fell in a dreamOf her beautiful face,As she sat on the thwartAnd smiled in her place.No echo his oar woke,Float silent did they,Past low-grazing cattleIn the sweet of the hay.And still in a dreamAt her beauty sat he,Drifting stern foremostDown—down to the sea.[42]Come you, then: call,When the twilight apaceBrings shadow to broodOn the loveliest face;You shall hear o'er the waterRing faint in the grey—"Ahoy, and ahoy, there!"And tremble away;"Ahoy, and ahoy!..."And tremble away.