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Orval, or The Fool of Time

And Other Imitations and Paraphrases. By Robert Lytton

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XV.THE VOICE OF NATURE; OR, WHAT THE FISH SAID TO THE MAIDEN.
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XV.THE VOICE OF NATURE; OR, WHAT THE FISH SAID TO THE MAIDEN.

By the sea a maiden is sitting,
And she says to herself at her knitting:
“O my heart! what more deep than the ocean,
Or more wide than the plain can be?
Or more swift than the horse in his motion?
Or more sweet than the food of the bee?
Or more dear than a brother?”

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And a fish from the sea replies:
“O maiden, but a little wise!
The plain is less wide than the sea,
And the heaven more deep than this is;
Eyes swifter than horses be;
And honey less sweet than kisses;
And a lover more dear than all other.”