Issue 38 - Beltaine/Summer 1998

Leanne Sidhe

by Pamela Harvey

As the mist of early dawning
Shimmers on the moonlit sea
And the starlight turns to sunlight
Come to me, Leanne Sidhe.

So you called, in voice despairing,
And I heard your pledge to me
And I answered with my love-song
And became your Leanne Sidhe.

And for many years it lasted;
I would leave my own country
That is near and far together
That you might share love with me.

Is it just that I am wanting
In the full humanity
Of the women who have sought you?
Is it that you tire of me?

I am lonely, and I call now,
But if you don't answer me
I will Ne'er be to another
Earthly - borne - their Leanne Sidhe.

Once our bodies surged together
As the dark rocks seek the tide
And your strength became the answer
To my wish long denied.

For I was your bean - your woman
Of the Earth and Faery Sphere;
With the Gods themselves enchanted,
For they held you very near.

Comes again to evening's shadow
Purple over loch and sea,
Whispers, like the hills in moonmist,
Blend with me, my Leanne Sidhe.

[This poem was first published in Quiet Lines, an anthology of Pamela Harvey's poetry. For further information, please contact her via Keltria Journal. Please include two International Postal Reply Coupons with request. - Ed.]