Poems | ||
167
BURIAL OF A FAIRY QUEEN.
On a verdant summer islet
I beheld a wondrous scene,
In a trance of dreamy waking—
Burial of a Fairy Queen!
I beheld a wondrous scene,
In a trance of dreamy waking—
Burial of a Fairy Queen!
First I heard some small pipes playing,
Like faint night-winds on the breeze,
Or the sound of distant rain-drops,
As they fall among the trees.
Like faint night-winds on the breeze,
Or the sound of distant rain-drops,
As they fall among the trees.
Floating softly o'er the waters,
And from every bell of foam,
The fairy anthem echoed sweetly,
Sad as thoughts of distant home.
And from every bell of foam,
The fairy anthem echoed sweetly,
Sad as thoughts of distant home.
168
Next the sound, as if of footsteps,
O'er the grass plot mov'd along;
And distinctly came the accents
Of the solemn funeral song.
O'er the grass plot mov'd along;
And distinctly came the accents
Of the solemn funeral song.
Like the melting of the dew-drops,
Without words of grief or death,
Was the soul-enthralling music,
Scarcely louder than a breath.
Without words of grief or death,
Was the soul-enthralling music,
Scarcely louder than a breath.
Then my dreaming eyes were opened,
And in wonder I espied
Thousands of the fairy creatures
In a circle, side by side.
And in wonder I espied
Thousands of the fairy creatures
In a circle, side by side.
Scarcely taller than the leaflets
Of the herbage on the plain,
While their heads were bowed with anguish,
And their tear-drops fell like rain.
Of the herbage on the plain,
While their heads were bowed with anguish,
And their tear-drops fell like rain.
169
In the middle of the circle,
On a plat of grass most green,
Stood a bier of unknown flowers,
Whereon lay the Fairy Queen.
On a plat of grass most green,
Stood a bier of unknown flowers,
Whereon lay the Fairy Queen.
Ah, she was pale as any lily,
Cold and motionless as snow!
Fainter grew their solemn dirges,
And still deeper grew their wo!
Cold and motionless as snow!
Fainter grew their solemn dirges,
And still deeper grew their wo!
Two sisters of the queenly fairy,
Stood at her feet and head,
And sang heart-broken measures,
Their requiems o'er the dead.
Stood at her feet and head,
And sang heart-broken measures,
Their requiems o'er the dead.
Scarcely louder than the twittering
Of the wood-lark's dewy breath—
But too full of desolation,
And the dark despair of death!
Of the wood-lark's dewy breath—
But too full of desolation,
And the dark despair of death!
170
Then the flower-bier sank gently,
At the spot whereon it lay;
And the magic turf clos'd o'er it—
Thus the dead queen pass'd away!
At the spot whereon it lay;
And the magic turf clos'd o'er it—
Thus the dead queen pass'd away!
Bright dew-drops glittered on the sward—
One fleet moment more, and then
The mystic troop sailed duskily,
And far from mortal ken.
One fleet moment more, and then
The mystic troop sailed duskily,
And far from mortal ken.
The silence of the still midnight
The murmuring waters broke;
The moon, emerging from a cloud,
Shone on me, and I woke.
The murmuring waters broke;
The moon, emerging from a cloud,
Shone on me, and I woke.
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