 | The Poet and Nature and The Morning Road |  |
FAERY FOREST.
The freckled jewel-flower swings
Its blossom where the orchid blushed,
And, where the woodland deeps hung hushed,
The raptured veery sings. . . .
The Forest crooked an arm at me
And murmured with its leaves, “Come, see
The wonder and the mystery
That haunt the heart of things.”
Its blossom where the orchid blushed,
And, where the woodland deeps hung hushed,
The raptured veery sings. . . .
The Forest crooked an arm at me
And murmured with its leaves, “Come, see
The wonder and the mystery
That haunt the heart of things.”
184
And then I saw a spirit wild
That danced within the waterfall,
Or, like the beauty of a child,
Hung laughing over all;
I saw the fairy of the fern
Toss emerald locks at every turn;
And in the dew the elfin burn
That holds the rose in thrall.
That danced within the waterfall,
Or, like the beauty of a child,
Hung laughing over all;
I saw the fairy of the fern
Toss emerald locks at every turn;
And in the dew the elfin burn
That holds the rose in thrall.
I saw moon-presences of light
Glow into form and glimmer 'round;
And, with them, crystalling in sight,
The winds with wild flowers crowned.
I saw the Dryads sit at ease
Within the hiding hearts of trees;
And in the brambles, watching these,
The Faun that none hath found.
Glow into form and glimmer 'round;
And, with them, crystalling in sight,
The winds with wild flowers crowned.
I saw the Dryads sit at ease
Within the hiding hearts of trees;
And in the brambles, watching these,
The Faun that none hath found.
I saw the music all around,
The lisp of leaf, the water's song,
Evolve a form, a shape of sound,
That glimmered green along;
I saw the happiness that thrills
The heart of things, that ebbs and fills,
Dance with the rapture of the rills,
And leap the woods among.
The lisp of leaf, the water's song,
Evolve a form, a shape of sound,
That glimmered green along;
I saw the happiness that thrills
The heart of things, that ebbs and fills,
Dance with the rapture of the rills,
And leap the woods among.
A moment more and I had seen
The Fairy-Queen as on she fared;
And all that Nature's self may mean
To me had been declared.
But, lo! there came a sudden lull
In action, and a step fell dull—
A mortal's ... and the Beautiful
Fled, like a wild thing scared.
The Fairy-Queen as on she fared;
And all that Nature's self may mean
To me had been declared.
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In action, and a step fell dull—
A mortal's ... and the Beautiful
Fled, like a wild thing scared.
| The Poet and Nature and The Morning Road | |