VIII.

Then, ay, then-he shall kneel lowWith the red-roan steed anear him,

Which shall seem to understand

Till I answer, 'Rise and go!
For the world must love and fear him

Whom I gift with heart and hand.'

IX.

“ Then he will arise so pale, I shall feel my own lips tremble

With a yes I must not say

Nathless, maiden-brave, “Farewell,' I will utter, and dissemble

Light to-morrow, with to-day.'

X.

"Then he will ride through the hills, To the wide world past the river, There to put away

all

wrong; To make straight distorted wills, And to empty the broad quiver

Which the wicked bear along.

XI.

“ Three times shall a young foot-page Swim the stream, and climb the mountain,

And kneel down beside my feet

*Lo! my master sends this gage, Lady, for thy pity's counting!

What wilt thou exchange for it?'

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING.

67

XII.

“And the first time, I will send A white rose-bud for a guerdon, –

And the second time, a glove ;
But the third me-1

may

bend From my pride, and answer—Pardon

If he comes to take my love.'

XIII.

Then the young foot-page will run Then my lover will ride faster,

Till he kneeleth at my knee;

•I am a duke's eldest son! Thousand serfs do call me master

But, O Love, I love but thee!'

XIV.

.

He will kiss me on the mouth Then, and lead me as a lover

Through the crowds that praise his deeds;

And, when soul-tied by one troth, Unto him I will discover

That swan's nest among the reeds."

XV.

Little Ellie, with her smile Not yet ended, rose up gaily ;

Tied the bonnet, donned the shoe,

And went homeward, round a mile, Just to see, as she did daily,

What more eggs were with the two.

XVI.

Pushing through the elm-tree copse,
Winding by the stream, light-hearted,

Where the osier pathway leads

Past the boughs she stoops- and stops :
Lo! the wild swan had deserted

And a rat had gnawed the reeds.

XVII.

Ellie went home sad and slow,
If she found the lover ever,

With his red-roan steed of steeds,

Sooth I know not! but I know
She could never show him— never,

That swan's nest among the reeds!

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING.

Music.

EFTSOONS they heard a most melodious sound,
Of all that mote delight a dainty ear,
Such as at once might not on living ground,
Save in this paradise, be heard elsewhere :
Right hard it was for wight which did it hear,
To rede what manner music that mote be ;
For all that pleasing is to living ear

Was there consorted in one harmony;
Birds, voices, instruments, winds, waters, all agree;

FLETCHER.

69

The joyous birds, shrouded in cheerful shade,
Their notes unto the voice attempered sweet;
Th' angelical soft trembling voices made
To th' instruments divine respondence meet;
The silver-sounding instruments did meet
With the bass murmur of the waters' fall;
The waters fall with difference discreet,

Now soft, now loud, unto the wind did call;
The gentle warbling wind, low answered to all.

SPENSER. - [From "The Faerie Queen."]

2 Pastoral Evening.

Fold your

SHEPHERDS all, and maidens fair,

flocks for the air
'Gins to thicken, and the sun
Already his great course hath run.
See the dew-drops, how they kiss
Every little flower that is;
Hanging on their velvet heads,
Like a rope of crystal beads.
See the heavy clouds low falling,
And bright Hesperus down calling
The dead Night from under ground;
At whose rising mists unsound,
Damps and vapours fly apace,
Hovering o'er the wanton face

Of these pastures, where they come,
Striking dead both bud and bloom;
Therefore, from such danger, lock
Every one his loved flock;
And let your dogs lie loose without,
Lest the wolf come as a scout
From the mountain, and, ere day,
Bear a lamb or kid away,
Or the crafty thievish fox
Break upon your simple flocks.
To secure yourselves from these
Be not too secure in ease;
Let one eye his watches keep,
While the other eye doth sleep;
So you shall good shepherds prove,
And for ever hold the love
Of our great God.* Sweetest slumbers,
And soft silence, fall in numbers
On your eye-lids! So, farewell !
Thus I end my evening's knell.

FLETCHER.

Bermudas.

WHERE the remote Bermudas ride,
In the ocean's bosom unespied ;
From a small boat that rowed along,
The listening winds received this song.