Teddy O'Neal went up the Hill:
Heart of my heart was Teddy O'Neal,
For the light of the Good Folk was over his path,
And the music called him from dune and rath,
And I could not stay him, delay him, nor pray him
To fly from the witch-wives, my Teddy O'Neal.
Teddy O'Neal went up the Hill:
Best of the Best was Teddy O'Neal,
Drawn by the cords that the Good Folk make,
With a heart on flame for the music's sake;
But I knew there was danger for Teddy, a stranger,
In the Court of Finvarra, my Teddy O'Neal.
Teddy O'Neal went up the Hill:
Fair as the morning was Teddy O'Neal,
He danced with the witch-wives, one, two, three,
He tasted their wine and he turned from me
From me while I pleaded, he speeded nor heeded;
Of the wine of Finvarra drank Teddy O'Neal.
Teddy O'Neal sank down on the Hill.
The Black Rath swallowed my Teddy O'Neal,
And I prayed to the Saints as I stood without
And heard through the hill side the rattle and shout
Of the feast that they gave him, and I could not save him;
For a witch-wife was charming my Teddy O'Neal.
Tcddy O'Neal came down the Hill,—
Not my brother, my Teddy O'Neal,
The kiss of the witch-wife was red on his mouth;
He turned from my table in hunger and drouth,
The Good Folk had crowned him, and bound him and wound him
In the Spell of Finvarra, my Teddy O'Neal.
Teddy O'Neal is back in the Plains—
The flesh of the body of Teddy O'Neal;
But his lips are closed and his voice is still,
And I know that his heart is straining up Hill
To the witch-wife he strayed with and stayed with and paid with
The price of his soul, my poor Teddy O'Neal.
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