And had the rooted plant aspired to range

With the snake's licence, while the insect yearned

To glow fixed as the flower, it were not strange—

No more than if the fluttery tree-top turned

To actual music, sang itself aloft;

Or if the wind, impassioned chantress, earned

The right to soar embodied in some soft

Fine form all fit for cloud companionship,

And, blissful, once touch beauty chased so oft.

Thamuris, marching, let no fancy slip