 | Woodcuts and Verses |  |
33
FAIRY-CATCHING.
WE are hunting the Fairy all day long;
Bewitch'd to the chase by his own sweet song;
We've an amber cage and a net of gauze;
But, with toil o'erwearied, we often pause.
Bewitch'd to the chase by his own sweet song;
We've an amber cage and a net of gauze;
But, with toil o'erwearied, we often pause.
Like the phosphor-light that illumes the fen,
So the false elf flits over glade and glen:
Then to cheer us forward he calls and sings;
But if once we're near him, away he springs.
So the false elf flits over glade and glen:
Then to cheer us forward he calls and sings;
But if once we're near him, away he springs.
When we press him hard, in a leaf he'll lie,
Or will mount the back of a dragon-fly,
Or will seek the veil that the spider spins,
Or will diving cling to a minnow's fins.
Or will mount the back of a dragon-fly,
Or will seek the veil that the spider spins,
Or will diving cling to a minnow's fins.
Like the phosphor-light on the dark morass,
He'll return, and perch on a blade of grass:
When the net comes close, and the toil seems o'er,
Then away he flirts, and we hunt once more.
He'll return, and perch on a blade of grass:
When the net comes close, and the toil seems o'er,
Then away he flirts, and we hunt once more.
But his voice is rich like a poet's dream,
And excites the spirit like fancy's beam;
So, because he carols a false sweet song,
We are hunting the Fairy all day long.
And excites the spirit like fancy's beam;
So, because he carols a false sweet song,
We are hunting the Fairy all day long.
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