And he winds adown the mountain high, And now he thrids the bramble bush, For rugged and dim was his onward track, But there came a spotted toad in sight, And he laughed as he jumped upon her back; He bridled her mouth with a silk-weed twist; He lashed her sides with an osier thong; And now through evening's dewy mist, With leap and spring they bound along, Till the mountain's magic verge is past, And the beach of sand is reached at last. XI. Soft and pale is the moony beam, With snowy shells and sparkling stones; In murmurings faint and distant moans; Is heard the splash of the sturgeon's leap, XII. The elfin cast a glance around, As he lighted down from his courser toad, Then round his breast his wings he wound, And close to the river's brink he strode; He sprang on a rock, he breathed a prayer, Above his head his arms he threw, Then tossed a tiny curve in air, And headlong plunged in the waters blue. XIII. Up sprung the spirits of the waves, From sea-silk beds in their coral caves; With snail-plate armor snatched in haste, They speed their way through the liquid waste ; Some are rapidly borne along On the mailed shrimp or the prickly prong, Some on the blood-red leeches glide, Some on the stony star-fish ride, Some on the back of the lancing squab, Some on the sideling soldier-crab, And some on the jellied quarl, that flings XIV. Fearlessly he skims along, His hope is high, and his limbs are strong, At his breast the tiny foam-beads rise, And hem him round on every side; On his thigh the leech has fixed his hold, The gritty star has rubbed him raw, And the crab has struck with his giant claw; He howls with rage, and he shrieks with pain, He strikes around, but his blows are vain ; Hopeless is the unequal fight, Fairy! naught is left but flight. XV. He turned him round and fled amain VOL. V.-24 But the water-sprites are round him still, And they stunned his ears with the scallop stroke, Oh! but a weary wight was he When he reached the foot of the dog-wood tree; XVI. Soon he gathered the balsam dew From the sorrel leaf and the henbane bud; Over each wound the balm he drew, And with cobweb lint he stanched the blood. The mild west wind was soft and low, It cooled the heat of his burning brow, And he felt new life in his sinews shoot, As he drank the juice of the calamus root; And now he treads the fatal shore, As fresh and vigorous as before. XVII Wrapped in musing stands the sprite : His task is hard, his way is far, Ere dawning mounts her beamy car, XVIII. He cast a saddened look around, But he felt new joy his bosom swell, When, glittering on the shadowed ground, Thither he ran, and he bent him low, He heaved at the stern and he heaved at the bow, And he pushed her over the yielding sand, Till he came to the verge of the haunted land. She was as lovely a pleasure boat As ever fairy had paddled in, For she glowed with purple paint without, XIX. The imps of the river yell and rave ; Like a feather that floats on a wind-tossed stream; And momently athwart her track The quarl upreared his island back, And the fluttering scallop behind would float, And patter the water about the boat; But he bailed her out with his colen-bell, And he kept her trimmed with a wary tread, While on every side like lightning fell The heavy strokes of his bootle-blade. XX. Onward still he held his way, Till he came where the column of moonshine lay, And saw beneath the surface dim The brown-backed sturgeon slowly swim : Around him were the goblin train But he sculled with all his might and main, And held his colen goblet up To catch the drop in its crimson cup. XXI. With sweeping tail and quivering fin, He plunged him in the deep again, The rainbow of the moony main. Beneath the bow of summer heaven. XXII. A moment and its lustre fell, But ere it met the billow blue, He caught within his crimson bell, A droplet of its sparkling dew Joy to thee, Fay! thy task is done, Thy wings are pure, for the gem is won- And haste away to the elfin shore. XXIII. He turns, and lo! on either side The ripples on his path divide; And the track o'er which his boat must pass Is smooth as a sheet of polished glass. Around, their limbs the sea-nymphs lave, With snowy arms half swelling out, While on the glossed and gleamy wave Their sea-green ringlets loosely float ; They swim around with smile and song ; They press the bark with pearly hand, And gently urge her course along, Toward the beach of speckled sand; And, as he lightly leaped to land, They bade adieu with nod and bow, Then gayly kissed each little hand, And dropped in the crystal deep below. XXIV. A moment stayed the fairy there; He kissed the beach and breathed a prayer, Then spread his wings of gilded blue, And on to the elfin court he flew; As ever ye saw a bubble rise, And shine with a thousand changing dyes, Till lessening far through ether driven, |