And while he spoke, a gentle air
Seem'd stirring through the crystal tides;
A gleam, at first both dim and bright,
Trembled to shape, in limbs of light,
Gilded to sunbeams by the hair
That glances where IT glides;[B]
Till, clear and clearer, upward borne,
The Fairy of the Fountain rose:
The halo quivering round her, grew
More steadfast as the shape shone through—
O sure, a second, softer Morn
The Elder Daylight knows!
Born from the blue of those deep eyes,
Such love its happy self betray'd
As only haunts that tender race,
With flower or fount, their dwelling-place—
The darling of the earth and skies
She rose—that Fairy Maid!
"Listen!" she said, and wave and land
Sigh'd back her murmur, murmurously—
"A love more true than minstrel sings,
A wealth that mocks the pomp of kings,
To him who wins the Fairy's hand
A Fairy's dower shall be.
"But not to those can we belong
Whose sense the charms of earth allure?
If human love hath yet been thine,
Farewell,—our laws forbid thee mine.
The Children of the Star and Song,
We may but bless the Pure!"
"Dream—lovelier far than e'er, I ween,
Entranced the glorious Merlin's eyes—
Through childhood, to this happiest hour,
All free from human Beauty's power,
My heart unresting still hath been
A prophet in its sighs.
"Though never living shape hath brought
Sweet love, that second life, to me,
Yet over earth, and through the heaven,
The thoughts that pined for love were driven:—
I see thee—and I feel I sought
Through Earth and Heaven for thee!"
PART II.
Ask not the Bard to lift the veil
That hides the Fairy's bridal bower;
If thou art young, go seek the glade,
And win thyself some fairy maid;
And rosy lips shall tell the tale
In some enchanted hour.
"Farewell!" as by the greenwood tree,
The Fairy clasp'd the Mortal's hand—
"Our laws forbid thee to delay—
Not ours the life of every day!—
And Man, alas! may rarely be
The Guest of Fairy-land.