They grew “unto the days of love”, so the story ran--
“And Cedric bent above her, stooping light, To press a kiss upon her tender cheek. And said, ‘Eileen, I love thee; yea I love, And loved thee ever, thou my soul’s delight.’
“To Cedric once a strange unlovely thought, That haunted him and would not let him be. ‘Eileen,’ he said, ‘there is a thing called death, Of which men speak with trembling at the lips; And I have thought how it would be with me If I should never gaze upon thee more.’”
So Cedric went to find out about these matters; he sought a witch--“the haggard woman, held in awe.”
“He found her crouching by a caldron fire; Far gleams of light fled through the vault away. And tongues of darkness flickered on the wall. Then Cedric said, ‘I seek the fate to know’. And the witch laughed, and gazed on him and sang:
‘Fashioned in the shadow-land, Out into darkness hurled; Trusted to the Storm-wind’s hand, By the Passion-tempest whirled! Ever straining, Never gaining, Never keeping, Young or old! Whither going Never knowing, Wherefore weeping, Never told! Rising, falling, disappearing, Seeking, calling, hating, fearing; Blasted by the lightning shock, Trampled in the earthquake rock; Were I man I would not plead In the roll of fate to read!’
“Then Cedric shuddered, but he said again, ‘I seek the fate,’ and the witch waved her hand; And straight a peal of thunder shook the ground, And clanged and battered on the cavern walls, Like some huge boulder leaping down the cliff. And blinding light flashed out, and seething fire Shattered the seamy crags and heaving floor.”
And so in a vision of terror Cedric saw the little vale, and the cot “fringed round with tender green”; and upon the lawn he saw Eileen, lying as one dead.
“And Cedric sprang, and cried, ‘My love! Eileen!’ And on the instant came a thunder-crash Like to the sound of old primeval days, Of mountain-heaving shock and earthquake roar, Of whirling planets shattered in the dark.”
And so, half wild with grief and despair, Cedric wandered forth into the world; and after great suffering, the birds took pity upon him, and gave him advice--that he should seek Caradrion.
“‘Caradrion?’ cried Cedric, starting up, ‘Speak swiftly, ere too late, where dwelleth he?’ ‘Ah, that I know not,’ spake the little voice, ‘Yet keep thy courage, seek thou out the stork, The ancient stork that saw from earliest days, Sitting in primal contemplation lost, Sphinx-like, seraphic, and oracular, Watching the strange procession of men’s dreams.’”