Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. 1 of 2] / Including the Biography of the Poet; criticisms on his genius and writings; a new chronology of his plays; a disquisition on the on the object of his sonnets; and a history of the manners, customs, and amusements, superstitions, poetry, and elegant literature of his age

by Nathan Drake

[392:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 356.—A fountain of this hallowed and mysterious nature, has been described by Mr. Southey in language most graphically and beautifully descriptive:—

"There is a fountain in the forest call'd

The fountain of the Fairies; when a child,

With most delightful wonder I have heard

Tales of the Elfin tribe that on its banks

Hold midnight revelry. An ancient oak,

The goodliest of the forest, grows beside,

Alone it stands, upon a green grass plat,

By the woods bounded like some little isle.

It ever hath been deem'd their favourite tree,