Loth to forget so sweet a sight,
And lest his memory should grow dim,
He sought the earth with sudden flight,
And bore the shoe aloft with him.
He bore it far, and let it fall
In the king's palace, where next day
So lily-frail, so strangely small,
Within the palace-court it lay.
The king was walking, wrapped in thought,
Throughout his palace, up and down:
Him had his councillors besought,
With some fair maid to share his crown,
And he had searched the wide world through
To find a princess he could love,
Yet all in vain he sought to woo,
His heart there was not one could move.
Into the palace-court he went,
Still wondering whom to make his bride,
And as he strolled, eyes earthward bent,
The wondrous tiny shoe he spied.
As leaps the sun to tropic skies,
So sprang his heart unto its choice,
Love sparkled brightly in his eyes,
And thrilled triumphant in his voice.
"You bid me wed, I could not do,
For lack of love, your bidding, Sirs.
But find the maid who wore this shoe,
And I will make my kingdom hers."
They searched the palace from the ground
Up to the towers, but in vain;
Nowhere was maiden to be found
To own the shoe and share the reign.
Then came a lad, who told in awe
How just at dawn an eagle flew
Above the town, and from its claw
Dropped to the palace-yard the shoe.
The wise men stroked their beards, and said:
"The gods have surely done this thing,
That our beloved lord may wed
A maiden meet for such a king."