First, two hearts which a mutual passion prove:
Then grace and beauty, with a soul refined:
Then the moon shining through the beechen grove,
When the spring greets the earth with zephyrs kind:
Then meeting without danger or suspense:
Then the embrace; and with that—innocence.
CANTO XXIII.
THE JOURNEY OF SKIRNIR.
Respecting the metre of this Canto, see the note.