The child (standing by the door)
But clinging mortal hope must fall from you,
For we who ride the winds, run on the waves,
And dance upon the mountains are more light
Than dewdrops on the banner of the dawn.

Mary.  O, take me with you.

Shawn.  Beloved, I will keep you. 
I’ve more than words, I have these arms to hold you,
Nor all the faery host, do what they please,
Shall ever make me loosen you from these arms.

Mary.  Dear face!  Dear voice!

The child.  Come, newly-married bride.

Mary.  I always loved her world—­and yet—­and yet—­

The child.  White bird, white bird, come with me, little bird.

Mary.  She calls me!

The child.  Come with me, little bird.

(Distant dancing figures appear in the wood.)

Mary.  I can hear songs and dancing.

Shawn.  Stay with me.

Mary.  I think that I would stay—­and yet—­and yet—­

The child.  Come, little bird, with crest of gold.’

Mary (very soft,) And yet—­

The child.  Come, little bird with silver feet!

(Mary Bruin dies, and the child goes.)

Shawn.  She is dead!

Bridget.  Come from that image; body and soul are gone
You have thrown your arms about a drift of leaves,
Or bole of an ash-tree changed into her image.

Father hart.  Thus do the spirits of evil snatch their prey,
Almost out of the very hand of God;
And day by day their power is more and more,
And men and women leave old paths, for pride
Comes knocking with thin knuckles on the heart.

(Outside there are dancing figures, and it may be a white bird, and many voices singing.)

“The wind blows out of the gates of the day,
The wind blows over the lonely of heart,
And the lonely of heart is withered away;
While the faeries dance in a place apart,
Shaking their milk-white feet in a ring,
Tossing their milk-white arms in the air;
For they hear the wind laugh and murmur and sing
Of a land where even the old are fair,
And even the wise are merry of tongue;
But I heard a reed of Coolaney say—­
When the wind has laughed and murmured and sung,
The lonely of heart is withered away."’

Note

This little play was produced at the Avenue Theatre in the spring of 1894, with the following cast: 

Maurteen Bruin, Mr. James Welch;
Shawn Bruin, Mr. A. E. W. Mason;
Father Hart, Mr. G. R. Foss;
Bridget Bruin, Miss Charlotte Morland;
Maire Bruin, Miss Winifred Fraser: 
A Faery Child, Miss Dorothy Paget.