Life and Phantasy by William Allingham: With frontispiece by Sir John E. Millais: A design by Arthur H. Hughes and a song for voice and piano forte |
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THE MAGIC CAP. |
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 | Life and Phantasy |  |
147
THE MAGIC CAP.
I don this Magic Cap of mine,
Whereon the sun's forbid to shine,
Which takes a hundred shapes, more swift
Than an air-tost cloud can shift.
It shoots to point, or spreads to brim,
Cocks itself to courtly trim,
Jockey roundness can assume,
Or sprout a nodding knightly plume,
Roughen up like cat in a passion,
Arctic smooth to Paris fashion,
Nipt below and flatten'd square
Turn to grave Collegiate wear,
Rise with added touch of brightness
Into Lancer's toyish lightness,
Then relapsed to colours sadder,
Flap down, like toy Jacob's Ladder,
As on broad Coalheaver's nape,
Spin wide round to Quaker shape,
By heat o' the brain curl'd up as soon
To Helmet, fit for bold Dragoon.
It splits, a Mitre it appears,
Then opens into Ass's Ears,
Droops, and, lo! a Learned Wig,
Shrinks to a Cue, again looks big,
When three long Tails from one unfold,
Twist like snakes and lie uproll'd
A Turban huge. It fades to air,
And saintly Rays are shooting there
Around my head—not rays at all,
But Quills that mark a Cannibal!
They bristle up, they strangely wax
To Three Hats in St. Mary Axe,—
No, no, I see it plainer now,
St. Peter's, and upon my brow
The tall Tiara presses tight:
To bear and balance it aright
Asks clever poising. Snatch it off!
I start: my Magic Cap I doff.
Whereon the sun's forbid to shine,
Which takes a hundred shapes, more swift
Than an air-tost cloud can shift.
It shoots to point, or spreads to brim,
Cocks itself to courtly trim,
Jockey roundness can assume,
Or sprout a nodding knightly plume,
Roughen up like cat in a passion,
Arctic smooth to Paris fashion,
Nipt below and flatten'd square
Turn to grave Collegiate wear,
Rise with added touch of brightness
Into Lancer's toyish lightness,
Then relapsed to colours sadder,
Flap down, like toy Jacob's Ladder,
As on broad Coalheaver's nape,
Spin wide round to Quaker shape,
By heat o' the brain curl'd up as soon
To Helmet, fit for bold Dragoon.
It splits, a Mitre it appears,
Then opens into Ass's Ears,
Droops, and, lo! a Learned Wig,
Shrinks to a Cue, again looks big,
When three long Tails from one unfold,
Twist like snakes and lie uproll'd
A Turban huge. It fades to air,
And saintly Rays are shooting there
Around my head—not rays at all,
But Quills that mark a Cannibal!
148
To Three Hats in St. Mary Axe,—
No, no, I see it plainer now,
St. Peter's, and upon my brow
The tall Tiara presses tight:
To bear and balance it aright
Asks clever poising. Snatch it off!
I start: my Magic Cap I doff.
Therewith was presented to me
Freedom of a City, gloomy,
Gorgeous, populous, silent, vast,
Built on a River of the Past,
Where long-set suns and wanèd moons
Make the mystic nights and noons,
And people lost from life one meets
Walking up and down the streets.
Strange as the City of Enchanters
Wandering King at nightfall enters,
In those regions dim and dread
Beyond the Sea of Darkness spread.
Freedom of a City, gloomy,
Gorgeous, populous, silent, vast,
Built on a River of the Past,
Where long-set suns and wanèd moons
Make the mystic nights and noons,
And people lost from life one meets
Walking up and down the streets.
Strange as the City of Enchanters
Wandering King at nightfall enters,
In those regions dim and dread
Beyond the Sea of Darkness spread.
| Life and Phantasy | |