White Mary, Bring Shemus home out of the wicked woods; Save Shemus from the wolves; Shemus is daring; And save him from the demons of the woods, Who have crept out and wander on the roads, Deluding dim-eyed souls now newly dead, And those alive who have gone crazed with famine. Save him, White Mary Virgin. TEIG. And but now I thought I heard far-off tympans and harps. [_Knocking at the door._ MAIRE. Shemus has come. TEIG. May he bring better food Than the lean crow he brought us yesterday. [_MAIRE opens the door, and SHEMUS comes in with a dead wolf on his shoulder._ MAIRE. Shemus, you are late home: you have been lounging And chattering with some one: you know well How the dreams trouble me, and how I pray, Yet you lie sweating on the hill from morn, Or linger at the crossways with all comers, Telling or gathering up calamity. SHEMUS. You would rail my head off. Here is a good dinner. [_He throws the wolf on the table._ A wolf is better than a carrion crow. I searched all day: the mice and rats and hedgehogs Seemed to be dead, and I could hardly hear A wing moving in all the famished woods, Though the dead leaves and clauber of four forests Cling to my footsole. I turned home but now, And saw, sniffing the floor in a bare cow-house, This young wolf here: the crossbow brought him down. MAIRE. Praise be the saints! [_After a pause._ Why did the house dog bay? SHEMUS. He heard me coming and smelt food—what else? TEIG. We will not starve awhile. SHEMUS. What food is within? TEIG. There is a bag half full of meal, a pan Half full of milk. SHEMUS. And we have one old hen. TEIG. The bogwood were less hard. MAIRE. Before you came She made a great noise in the hencoop, Shemus. What fluttered in the window? TEIG. Two horned owls Have blinked and fluttered on the window sill From when the dog began to bay. SHEMUS. Hush, hush. [_He fits an arrow to the crossbow, and goes towards the door. A sudden burst of music without._ They are off again: ladies or gentlemen Travel in the woods with tympan and with harp. Teig, put the wolf upon the biggest hook And shut the door. [_TEIG goes into the cupboard with the wolf: returns and fastens the door behind him._ Sit on the creepy stool And call up a whey face and a crying voice, And let your head be bowed upon your knees. [_He opens the door of the cabin._ Come in, your honours: a full score of evenings This threshold worn away by many a foot Has been passed only by the snails and birds And by our own poor hunger-shaken feet.