By H. H. H.

• “And if ye have melted your wax aright,
• Sister Helen,
• Ye'll let me play, for ye said I might!”
• “Be very still in your play to night,
• Little Brother!”
• (O Mother , Mary , Mother,
• Dark night and loud between Hell and Heaven.)

• “Ye said, it must melt ere vesper-bell
• Sister Helen,
• 10If now it be molten, all is well!”
• “Even so, nay peace! ye cannot tell,
• Little Brother!”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Oh what is this, between Hell and Heaven!)

• “Oh the waxen knave was plump to-day,
• Sister Helen,
• How like dead folk he has dropt away!”
• “Nay now of the dead what can ye say
• Little Brother?”
• 20 (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Why looks she thus between Hell and Heaven?)

• “See, see the pile of burning wood,
• Sister Helen,
• Shines through the thin wax red as blood”,
• Nay now, when looked ye yet on blood,
• Little Brother?
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• How pale she is between Hell and Heaven!)

• “Now close your eyes for they 're sick and sore
• 30 Sister Helen,
• And I'll play without and keep the door.”
• “Aye keep it well—I'll lie on the floor,
• Little Brother.”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• What ails her heart between Hell and Heaven?)

• “And here it's merry in the wind's wake,
• Sister Helen,
• In the shaking trees the chill stars shake.”
• “Hush, heard ye a horse-tread while ye spake,
• 40 Little Brother?”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• What would she between Hell and Heaven?)

• “I hear a horse-tread and I see,
• Sister Helen,
• Three horsemen that ride terribly.”
• “Little Brother, whence come the three,
• Little Brother?”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• What hope is her's between Hell and Heaven.)

• 50“They come by the hill-verge by Boyne Bar,
• Sister Helen,
• And one draws nigh, but two are afar.”
• “Look, look do ye know them, who they are,
• Little Brother?”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Who should they be, between Hell and Heaven?)

• “Oh its Keith of Eastholm rides so fast,
• Sister Helen,
• For I know the white mane on the blast.”
• 60“The hour has come, has come at last,
• Little Brother!”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Is this like joy between Hell and Heaven?)

• “He has made a sign and calls Halloo!
• Sister Helen,
• “And he says that he would speak with you.”
• “Oh tell him I fear the frozen dew,
• Little Brother!”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• 70Why smiles she thus between Hell and Heaven.)

• “The wind is loud, but I hear him cry,
• Sister Helen,
• That Keith of Ew an i ern'>s like to die.”
• “And he and thou, and thou and I
• Little Brother!”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• She mocks at death, between Hell and Heaven!)

• “Since yesterday, he lies sick a-bed,
• Sister Helen,
• 80And he prays in torment, to be dead.”
• “The thing may chance, if he have prayed,
• Little Brother!”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• She scoffs at prayer between Hell and Heaven!)

• “But he has not ceased to cry all day,
• Sister Helen,
• That you should take your curse away.”
• “God heard; God grants; shall I gainsay,
• Little Brother!”
• 90 (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• She speaks of God between Hell and Heaven.)

• “He says, till you take back your ban,
• Sister Helen,
• His soul would pass, but never can.”
• “Nay then,—shall I slay a living man,
• Little Brother?”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• A wicked word between Hell and Heaven!)

• “Here's Keith of Westholm riding fast
• 100 Sister Helen,
• For I know the white plume on the blast.”
• “The hour, the sweet hour I forecast,
• Little Brother.”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• What mirth is her's between Hell and Heaven?)

• “He stops to speak and he stills his horse,
• Sister Helen,
• But his talk sounds like the talking gorse.”
• “Nay hear, nay hear, ye must hear perforce,
• 110 Little Brother.”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Are such words sweet between Hell and Heaven!)

• “Oh he says that Keith of Ewan's cry,
• Sister Helen,
• Is ever to see you ere he die.”
• “He sees me in earth, in moon and sky
• Little Brother!”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Alas for sin between Hell and Heaven!)

• 120“He sends a broken ring and a broken coin,
• Sister Helen,
• And bids you mind the banks of Boyne.”
• “What else he broke can he ever join,
• Little Brother?”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• What wrong is her's between Hell and Heaven!)

• “He yields you these and craves full fain,
• Sister Helen,
• You pardon him in his mortal pain.”
• 130“What else he took will he give again,
• Little Brother?”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• O shame and love between Hell and Heaven.)

• “Oh it's Keith of Keith now that rides fast,
• Sister Helen,
• For I know the white hair on the blast.”
• “The short, short hour will soon be past,
• Little Brother!”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• 140Thou heard'st her laugh between Hell and Heaven!)

• “He looks at me and he tries to speak,
• Sister Helen,
• But oh, his voice is sad and weak.”
• “What here should the migthy Baron seek,
• Little Brother?”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Alas, alas between Hell and Heaven.)

• “O his son is lost, the priest has said,
• Sister Helen,
• 150If he die ere he and you be wed.”
• “I'll be his bride in a warmer bed,
• Little Brother.”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Has she no fear between Hell and Heaven?)

• “Ah he prays you, as his heart would rive,
• Sister Helen,
• To save his dear son's soul alive.”
• “Nay, flame cannot slay it, it shall thrive,
• Little Brother!”
• 160 (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Her soul blasphemes between Hell and Heaven!)

• “He cries to you, kneeling on the road,
• Sister Helen,
• O go with him for the love of God!”
• “The way is long to his son's abode,
• Little Brother!”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Has the end come between Hell and Heaven?)

• “O Sister Helen, ye heard the bell,
• 170 Sister Helen,
• More loud than the vesper chime it fell.”
• “No vesper chime, but a dying knell,
• Little Brother.”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Our doom is sealed between Hell and Heaven.)

• “Alas, but I fear the heavy sound,
• Sister Helen;
• Is it in the sky, or in the ground?”
• “Say have they turned their horses round,
• 180 Little Brother?”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• What would she more between Hell and Heaven?)

• “They have raised the old man from his knee
• Sister Helen,
• And they ride in silence hastily.”
• “Now fast the naked one soul doth flee,
• Little Brother.”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• And is all o'er between Hell and Heaven?)

• 190“O the wind is sad in the iron chill
• Sister Helen,
• And weary sad they look by the hill.”
• “But he they mourn is sadder still,
• Little Brother.”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• No hope at all between Hell and Heaven!)

• “Look, look, the wax has dropt down from its place
• Sister Helen,
• And the flames are winning up apace.”
• 200“Yet here they burn but for a space,
• Little Brother.”
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• Are such deeds known between Hell and Heaven?)

• “Ah what white thing at the door has crossed,
• Sister Helen?—
• Ah what is this that sighs in the frost?”
• “A soul that is lost as mine is lost,
• Little Brother.”—
• (O Mother Mary, Mother,
• 210O purge their souls As theirs are lost between Hell and Heaven!)

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