[1] 1830.
The while she slumbereth alone,
Over the purple coverlet,
The maiden’s jet-black hair hath grown.
[2] 1830. Star-braided.
[3] A writer in Notes and Queries, February, 1880, asks whether these lines mean that the lovely princess did not snore so loud that she could be heard from one end of the palace to the other and whether it would not have detracted from her charms had that state of things been habitual. This brings into the field Dr. Gatty and other admirers of Tennyson, who, it must be owned, are not very successful in giving a satisfactory reply.
[4] 1830. Side.
The Arrival
(No alteration after 1853.)
1
All precious things, discover’d late,
To those that seek them issue forth;
For love in sequel works with fate,
And draws the veil from hidden worth.
He travels far from other skies
His mantle glitters on the rocks—
A fairy Prince, with joyful eyes,
And lighter footed than the fox.
2
The bodies and the bones of those
That strove in other days to pass,
Are wither’d in the thorny close,
Or scatter’d blanching on[[1]]the grass.
He gazes on the silent dead:
“They perish’d in their daring deeds.”
This proverb flashes thro’ his head,
“The many fail: the one succeeds”.