Then spake the first of fairies: “O great King,
Thy life was ours—we spared it; ours was thine
And thou didst spare us, yet encompassing
Thy deed with obligation, line on line,
And promise holding promise,—me and mine
To do, and thou to do not. Now the hour
Hath come—as ne’er before—when billow and brine
Yield to a mortal every whit of power—
Save one—how suns soe’er may shine or clouds may lower.”
XII.
Low bowed the Monarch his assenting head.
The elfin chieftain swiftly drew anear
Doffing his hood, long-trailing, ruby red.
Lo! on the King ’tis placed. In either ear
They plant sweet spices, herbs, anointing clear;
And weird enchantments drown the muffled roar
Of throbbing ocean. Then the charioteer
Beholds his master pass the waters o’er,
And stands, a lonely man upon a lonely shore.
. . . . . .
XIII.
Day brightened in the East, and o’er the waters
The round sun rose and threw across the wave
A lambent flame, blood-red, as though from slaughters
In Orient lands. The breaking surf did lave
Muëna’s feet: he, wrapt in wonderings grave,
Looked long and wistful, such as lovers do
To greet their love. At length the wondering slave
Saw on the deep a form that neared, and grew,
And stepped upon the beach—the King returned anew.
CANTO II.
XIV.
Thenceforth, King Fergus, strong in power new born,
Recked not a restful hour, but, passion-fired,
And strong in strength un’customed, night and morn
Probed to the farthest deeps his soul desired.
At such swift speed too soon his soul acquired
The sum of knowledge granted. “All below,”
So spake the King, “to which I have aspired
Is mine,—that earth or ocean can bestow,
Save one, whose secret fain my mind would grasp and know.”
XV.
So chafe Restriction’s fetters. So within
Dwelleth for ever ancient Adam’s will.
Sweet though the tasted fruit, the fruit unseen,
Or seen but yet forbid, is sweeter still.
Lord of the land, of river, vale, and hill,
King Fergus stood, and “Wherefore,” thus said he,
“This circumscription? What of greater ill
Dwelleth within the breast of mine own sea
Than those whose farthest caves have felt the foot of me?