Living
Children of Lir
From The Divine Vision (1904)
We woke from our sleep in the bosom where cradled together we lay:
The love of the Dark Hidden Father went with us upon our way.
And gay was the breath in our being, and never a sorrow or fear
Was on us, as singing together, we flew from the infinite Lir.
Through nights lit with diamond and sapphire we raced with the
Children of Dawn,
A chain that was silver and golden linked spirit to spirit, my swan.
Till day in the heavens passed over, and still grew the beat
of our wings,
And the Breath of the Darkness enfolded to teach us unspeakable things.
Yet lower we fell and for comfort our pinionless spirits had now
The leaning of bosom to bosom, the lifting of lip unto brow.
Though chained to the earth yet we mourned not the loss of our
heaven above,
But passed from the vision of Beauty to the fathomless being of Love.
Still gay is the breath in our being, we wait for the Bell
Branch to ring
To call us away to the Father, and then we will rise on the wing,
And fly through the twilights of time till the home lights of
heaven appear;
Our spirits through love and through longing made one in the
infinite Lir.
Cite this poem
MLA
George William Russell (A.E.). “Children of Lir.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/russell_ge/36/.
Chicago
George William Russell (A.E.). “Children of Lir.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/russell_ge/36/.
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