Life and Phantasy :: :: University of Virginia Library

Listen what transporting magic
I have nightly at command,
Here with feet upon the fender,
In the moving of my hand.
O how soft and instantaneous
Is the waftage that I feel!
Words of charm pronouncing softly,
Words the wizard leaves reveal.

II

Now I'm by a lake enchanted,
Folded in a winding wood;
Gates of lily-crusted marble
Gleam upon the shadowy flood;
Elfin music trembles round it:
Who can tell if that be boat
With a shining spirit-pilot,
Or a golden star afloat?

III

Now I sweep through dell and greenwood,
With my band of merry men;
Wind the mort upon my bugle,
'Tis a stately stag of ten!
Jovial then our hall of banquet,
With old spears and morions dight;
Sweetly sung, those ancient ballads
To the harp at dim twilight,

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IV

Now I'm with a serious tutor,
Taking me a country walk;
Leaving no field-sight unnoticed
In his meditative talk.
Clumsy-gay, pedantic-humble,
He's a mild and stubborn saint;
Pure and wise, and widely honour'd,
Spite of all his Foy-Bells quaint.

V

Now I'm at a lively picnic,
Rounded with an evening dance:
Sentimental lays are warbled,
Help'd with many a killing glance;
Flirts are in the flower'd balcóny,
Masqueraders on the lawn;
Glowing waltzers after supper
Little heed the stealing dawn.

VI

Now in deep Thessalian valley
Rest I 'mid the summer grass;
Vision-floated round Olympus
With the clouds that slowly pass.
I am 'ware of Fauns and Dryads
Facing through the leafy screen.
More than mist is on the fountain:
Hush!—may Dian's self be seen?

VII

Now champagne or bolder brandy
At the buffet of a “Hell:”
Pledge me, fair one, merrily, deeply!
Philtre this of powerful spell.
Curtains closed make morn and midnight
All alike, as in the grave.
Ha! I take the tide of fortune,
Or a darker, colder wave.

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VIII

Now one May-time, spray-time, gay time,
In the shrubbery do I rove,
Chatting to a pretty damsel
Half in pique and half in love;
She's romantic, she's coquettish,
Eager with her smile or tear.
Overhead a lark is trilling,
And the lambs are bleating near.

IX

Now I'm on a mighty river,
Swept in foam and misty shroud
Down through whirlpool, crag, and rapid,
Valley, precipice, and cloud;
Day and night, and storm and splendour,
Moonlight damm'd with monstrous bars,
Mines of darkness vein'd with lightning,
Red sundawn that kills the stars;
Meadow wide where Pan yet harbours,
Distant peak with snowy crown,
Broad eternal forest-margin;
Swiftly borne (O whither?) down.

X

Cease awhile from wëird journey,
Close the spreading wings to rest,
One by one the summon'd spirits
Smiling friend hath simply guess'd.
Hast thou so?—then, whatsoever
Land or sea our homes divide,
Open book, and by this magic
We shall travel side by side.