there fell my father on a field of blood , and in a hungry siege my mother died , and i , a captive , heard the great seas ' rood calling and calling , that my spirit cried for the dark western shores whence long ago had come sires of my mother , and i broke my bonds , faring o'er wasted valleys and dead lands until my feet were moistened by the western sea , until my ears were deafened by the hum , the splash , and roaring of the western sea -- but that was long ago and now the dark bays and unknown waves i know , the twilight capes , the misty archipelago , and all the perilous sounds and salt wastes 'tween this isle of magic and the coasts i knew awhile .