With arching necks their regal course they bore.
Winona marvelled at the unwonted sight
Of white swans swimming there at dead of night,
Her frenzy half beguiling with the scene.
Unearthly heralds sure, for in their wake
What ruddy furrows seamed the placid lake.
Almost beneath her feet they came, so near
She might have tossed a pebble on their backs,
When lo, their long necks pierced the waters clear,
As down they dove, two shafts of purest light,