by Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953), as Dermot O'Byrne
Glamour
Language: English
As I walked at dusk in Eyré Square Of a sudden I became aware Of one who walked beside me there. I could not hear his footfall's beat, He spoke no word my soul to greet, But I felt his mastering curious stare; And when I sought his eyes to meet In the infrequent places where The dingy dust-veiled street-lamps flare, He wrapped him in the misty glare Or hid in clouds of phantom sleer. He had corn-coloured, sea-bleached hair, He had pampooties on his feet, His shaking fingers lithe and spare Moved like long wind-waves in tall wheat, And at the corner of the street He sang a stave so piercing fair It stung like arrows the thin air. "A faery wind against the sheet, And opal glimmers on the sea, And far-strayed green-lipped mystery! What thing in your dull world of care Is wiser-hearted and more sweet Than the wind of faery in the sheet, The voices rocking on the sea? Sure that's the ship for you and me Come sad-eyed poet if you dare!" The wind whirled over a breached wall. I turned. He was not there at all But a drugged dream he'd laid upon The grass, the statue, and the gun, The silly solemn houses ranged About the square. All things were changed With some Atlantic magic dim And in enchantment seemed to swim. I thought a green bewitchment splashed Along the street, and pale gleams flashed Out of the clouded luring west A Danaan dream into my breast. And through all weathers and all climes I've chased that spinner of quaint rhymes; I've followed through sharp whirling sands The waving of his fading hands; And seen his antic shadow pass The railings of St. Nicholas; And heard his thin and silver laugh Along the Claddagh, on the wharf, Round foam-bespattered ledges drear Of Inishmaan and Inisheer, And in and out the standing stones That guard the Firbolg's powdered bones; But never find that hooker fleet With glamoured wind against the sheet, Nor that strange Aran Islander Who walked with me in Eyré Square, Through all days in the rainy year Or when the shy stars blink and peer I seek his shadow up and down The mouldering streets of Galway Town.
Authorship:
- by Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953), as Dermot O'Byrne
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953), "Glamour", 1921, published 1979 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2021-12-29
Line count: 60
Word count: 377