13 SHADOW-BRIDE


    There was a man who dwelt alone,


    as day and night went past


    he sat as still as carven stone,


    and yet no shadow cast.


    The white owls perched upon his head


    beneath the winter moon;


    they wiped their beaks and thought him dead


    under the stars of June.


    There came a lady clad in grey


    in the twilight shining:


    one moment she would stand and stay,


    her hair with flowers entwining.


    He woke, as had he sprung of stone,


    and broke the spell that bound him;


    he clasped her fast, both flesh and bone,


    and wrapped her shadow round him.


    There never more she walks her ways


    by sun or moon or star;


    she dwells below where neither days


    nor any nights there are.


    But once a year when caverns yawn


    and hidden things awake,


    they dance together then till dawn


    and a single shadow make.