The Gallows

THE BANSHEE

by Dora Sigerson

God be between us and all harm,  
For I to-night have seen  
A banshee in the shadow pass  
Along the dark boreen.

And as she went she keened and cried,  
And combed her long white hair,  
She stopped at Molly Reilly's door,  
And sobbed till midnight there.

And is it for himself she moans,  
Who is so far away?  
Or is it Molly Reilly's death  
She cries until the day?

Now Molly thinks her man has gone  
A sailor lad to be;  
She puts a candle at her door  
Each night for him to see.

But he is off to Galway town,  
(And who dare tell her this?)  
Enchanted by a woman's eyes,  
Half-maddened by her kiss.

So as we go by Molly's door  
We look towards the sea,  
And say, "May God bring home your lad  
Wherever he may be."

I pray it may be Molly's self  
The banshee keens and cries,  
For who dare breathe the tale to her,  
Be it her man who dies?

But there is sorrow on the way,  
For I tonight have seen  
A banshee in the shadow pass  
Along the dark boreen.