Etain the Beloved and Other Poems

NOTES Etain the Beloved:—This poem is founded on an ancient Irish myth. It is not a translation from the Gaelic; but rather is an attempt at transfiguration, by seeking to "unfold into light" the spiritual vision that was the inspiration, and is the secret of the persistence and resilience, of the Celt. Such modifications as I have made in the story have neither archæological nor philological significance: they arise entirely from whatever measure of insight into artistic necessity, on the side of pure literature, has been granted to me; and also from obedience to a view of the universe which is embodied in the ancient Irish mythology, and whose operations the personages of the story body forth as Psyche bodied forth the soul of humanity to the Greek. The names of the personages may be pronounced thus: Etain—Etawn', Eochaidh—Yo'hee, Ailill—Al'yil, Mider—Mid'yir. Dagda is the Irish God of Day, Balor the Irish God of Night. A dun is a fortified dwelling, a liss is a place for domestic animals