University of Virginia Library

OBERON.

Say, hast thou left the faëry realms, that lie
Beyond the famed Hesperides,
Those gardens of the southern seas,
Fanned ever by the spice-wind's gentle sigh,
Spirit of beauty? Or with rapid flight
Parting the dusky pall of night,
Hast flitted hither from the velvet green,
By the chaste moonlight seen,
Of some fair English lawn, or forest glade,
Checkered with dewy light and mellow shade?
Hast thou forsworn, deserted quite,
The frolic wild and mirthful dance,
Circling with giddy round the midnight lawn,
Till the broad peep of dawn;
The gorgeous banquets on the yellow shore;
The goblets brimmed with May-dew,—never more
To greet Titania's eyes of light
With loving smiles and bright enamoured glance?
That thou hast chosen for thy dwelling rare,
Thou swift intelligence, this infant fair.
Oh, worthy choice and wise!
Oh, shrine most fitting for a sprite like thee,
Romantic, wild, and debonair,
And fanciful and free!
The clear soul glancing from the sunny eyes;
The temples of deep thought, that brow within
So massive, broad and high;
The glowing cheek, rich with the pearly dyes
Of morning roses; and the dimpled chin
So eloquent and sly:
Just pride of that enraptured pair,
Who, gazing on his glorious face,
In every speaking feature trace
A brilliant destiny.
Oh! if thou mak'st thy dwelling there,
Blending thy spirit-nature wild
With Christian meekness pure and mild,
And love that ne'er shall die,—
Oh! mayst thou never rue the frolic strange
That prompted this fair change;
But find, in place of fierce and reckless glee,
A quiet joy, serene, and calm, and free;
A happiness, unmoved by storm or strife,
Enduring still through every phase of life,
And shining but more brightly from the gloom
That may not shroud its transit through the tomb
To everlasting bliss and deathless bloom.