THE CULPRIT FAY. He has leaped the bog, he has pierced the brier, For rugged and dim was his onward track, And he laughed as he jumped upon her back; He bridled her mouth with a silkweed 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; The shore-surge comes in ripples light, In murmurings faint and distant moans; And ever afar in the silence deep 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, On the mailed shrimp or the prickly prong; Some on the stony star-fish ride, Some on the back of the lancing squab, XIV. Fearlessly he skims along, His hope is high, and his limbs are strong; He spreads his arms like the swallow's wing, And throws his feet with a frog-like fling; His locks of gold on the waters shine, At his breast the tiny foam-bees rise, His back gleams bright above the brine, And the wake-line foam behind him lies. But the water-sprites are gathering near To check his course along the tide; Their warriors come in swift career And hem him round on every side; On his thigh the leech has fixed his hold, The quarl's long arms are round him rolled, The prickly prong has pierced his skin, And the squab has thrown his javelin ; The gritty star has rubbed him raw, 587 And the crab has struck with his giant claw; XV. He turned him round, and fled amain And they stunned his ears with the scallop-stroke, When he reached the foot of the dogwood-tree. - Gashed and wounded, and stiff and sore, 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, XVII. Wrapped in musing stands the sprite : "Tis the middle wane of night; His task is hard, his way is far, But he must do his errand right Ere Dawning mounts her beamy car, And rolls her chariot-wheels of light; And vain are the spells of fairy-landHe must work with a human hand. XVIII. He cast a saddened look around; But he felt new joy his bosom swell, When, glittering on the shadowed ground, He saw a purple muscle-shell; Thither he ran, and he bent him low, He heaved at the stern and he heaved at the bow, As ever fairy had paddled in, For she glowed with purple paint without, A sculler's notch in the stern he made, Then sprung to his seat with a lightsome leap, XIX. The imps of the river yell and rave; And they dashed the surge against her side, 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, 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. It was a strange and lovely sight To see the puny goblin there; He seemed an angel form of light, With azure wing and sunny hair, Throned on a cloud of purple fair, Circled with blue and edged with white, And sitting at the fall of even Beneath the bow of summer heaven. THE CULPRIT FAY. 589 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. Cheerly ply thy dripping oar, And haste away to the elfin shore. XXIII. He turns, and, lo! on either side And the track o'er which his boat must pass 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; And shine with a thousand changing dyes, And gleams with blendings soft and bright, Up! thy charmed armor don, XXV. He put his acorn helmet on; It was plumed of the silk of the thistle-down; His cloak, of a thousand mingled dyes, Was formed of the wings of butterflies; His shield was the shell of a lady-bug queen, And the quivering lance which he brandished bright Was the sting of a wasp he had slain in fight. He bared his blade of the bent-grass blue; And away like a glance of thought he flew, XXVI. The moth-fly, as he shot in air, Crept under the leaf, and hid her there; The prowling gnat fled fast away, And folded his wings till the fay was gone, And the wily beetle dropped his head, And writhed at the prick of the elfin spear; When the sky was clear and the moon was bright, Then glad they left their covert lair, And freaked about in the midnight air. XXVII. Up to the vaulted firmament Till the first light cloud in heaven is past. But the shapes of air have begun their work, And a drizzly mist is round him cast; He cannot see through the mantle murk; He shivers with cold, but he urges fast; Through storm and darkness, sleet and shade, And yells of rage, and shrieks of fear, XXVIII. His wings are wet around his breast, They rend the air with frightful cries; And the land of clouds beneath him lies. XXIX. Up to the cope careering swift, On a sheet of azure cast. Oh! it was sweet, in the clear moonlight, To tread the starry plain of even! To meet the thousand eyes of night, And feel the cooling breath of heaven! Till he came to the bank of the milky-way; And watched for the glimpse of the planet-shoot. XXX. Sudden along the snowy tide That swelled to meet their footsteps' fall, They skip before him on the plain, To where, through clouds of amber seen, XXXI. But, oh! how fair the shape that lay The loveliest of the forms of light; Her face was like the lily roon That veils the vestal planet's hue; And the diamond gems which round it gleam That ne'er have left their native heaven. XXXII. She raised her eyes to the wondering sprite, THE CULPRIT FAY. To think upon his virgin bride, Never before in the bowers of light Long with his butterfly cloak she played; She smoothed his wings of azure lace, And handled the tassel of his blade; She felt new pains in her bosom rise, In the land of everlasting light! Around thy brow shall brightly beam! The song that makes the dew-mist melt; Their harps are of the umber shade That hides the blush of waking day, And every gleamy string is made Of silvery moonshine's lengthened ray; And thou shalt pillow on my breast, While heavenly breathings float around, And, with the sylphs of ether blest, Forget the joys of fairy ground." XXXIII. She was lovely and fair to see, And he thought of the light flush on her cheek; Never again might he bask and lie On that sweet cheek and moonlight eye; To clasp her in his revery, Was worth all heaven, and earth beside. XXXIV. "Lady," he cried, "I have sworn to-night, On the word of a fairy-knight, To do my sentence-task aright; I may not soil its snows again; Its mandate must be answered now." And called the sylphs who hovered there, And bade them fly and bring him straight, Of clouds condensed, a sable car. With charm and spell she blessed it there, From all the fiends of upper air; Then round him cast the shadowy shroud, And tied his steed behind the cloud; And pressed his hand as she bade him fly Far to the verge of the northern sky, For by its wane and wavering light There was a star would fall to-night. XXXV. 591 Borne afar on the wings of the blast, XXXVI. The star is yet in the vault of heaven, And now 'tis deadly pale; And now 'tis wrapped in sulphur-smoke, And quenched is its rayless beam; And now with a rattling thunder-stroke It bursts in flash and flame. |