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Padraic Colum - The Bird of JesusPadraic Colum - The Bird of Jesus
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IT was pure indeed, The air we breathed in, the light we saw, I and my brother, when we played that day, Or piped to one another; then there came Two young lads of an age with one another, And with us two, and these two played with us, And went away. Each had a bearing that was like a prince`s, Yet they were simple lads and had the kindness Of our own folk lads simple and unknowing: Then, afterwards, we went to visit them. Theirs was a village that was not far off, But out of reach towards elbow, not towards hand: And what was there were houses Houses and some trees And it was like a place within a fold. We found the lads, And found them still as simple and unknowing, And played with them: we played outside the stall Where worked the father of the wiser lad Not brothers were the boys, but cousins` children. There was a pit: We brought back clay and sat beside the stall, And made birds out of clay; and then my brother Took up his bird and flung it in the air: His playmate did as he, And clay fell down upon the face of clay. And then I took The shavings of the board the carpenter Was working on, and flung them in the air, And watched them streaming down. There would be nought to tell Had not the wiser of the lads took up The clay he shaped: a little bird it was; He tossed it from his hand up to his head; The bird stayed in the air. O what delight we had To see it fly and pause, that little bird, Sinking to earth sometimes, and sometimes rising As though to fly into the very sun; At last it spread out wings and flew, and flew, Flew to the sun. I do not think That we played any more, or thought of playing, For every drop of blood our bodies held Was free and playing, free and playing then. Four lads together on the bench we sat: Nothing was in the open air around us, And yet we thought something was there for us A secret, charmed thing. So we went homeward; by soft ways we went That wound us back to our familiar place. Some increase lay upon the things we saw: I`ll speak of grasses, but you`ll never know What grass was there; words wither it and make it Like to the desert children`s dream of grass; Lambs in the grass, but I will not have shown you What fleece of purity they had to show; I`ll speak of birds, but I will not have told you How their song filled the heart; and when I speak Of him, my brother, you will never guess How we two were at one! Even to our mother we had gained in grace!
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