AVALON AND A BLACKIHRD 193 



off was bloodless it is terrible to bim as slaugbtcr by 

 tbe sword. He cries out against tbe injustice t)f bcaven, 

 for even as that one nest was singled out among many 

 for destruction so were his home and loved ones: 



O Thou, the Simper of the world! 



Uneven hands Thoii layest on us ; 

 Our fellows at our side are spared, 



Their wives and children are alive. 



There is another remarkable poem conceived in the 

 spirit of that time of wild passions and the shedding of 

 blood, in which the first early note of the blackbird with 

 its message to the "faithful" is introduced in a wonder- 

 fully impressive way. This tells how Fothad Canann 

 carried off the wife of Alill with her consent, and was 

 hotly pursued by Alill, and how they met and fought 

 until both w-ere slain. Now Fothad had arranged with 

 the woman to meet her in the evening after the fight, 

 and true to his word he kept the tryst. As he comes 

 to her she flies to meet him, to clasp him with her arms 

 and pour out all her passion on his breast. But he will 

 not have it, he waves her back imperiously and will not 

 allow her to utter a word. He must do all the talking 

 himself, for he is overflowing with great matters, great 

 new^s, and the time for telling them is short. He tells 

 her how they fought, how well they were matched, w-hat 

 a glorious battle it was ! One can see it — the deadly 

 meeting of those two long-haired men, their blue-grey 

 eyes glinting with rage and the joy of battle; the shouts 

 of defiance and insult; the furious onset and the swift 



