She dreamed a dream, of walking in a wood—
A "wood obscure," like that where Dante found[354]
Himself in at the age when all grow good;[GZ]
Life's half-way house, where dames with virtue crowned
Run much less risk of lovers turning rude;
And that this wood was full of pleasant fruits,
And trees of goodly growth and spreading roots;
LXXVI.
And in the midst a golden apple grew,—
A most prodigious pippin—but it hung