THE CULPRIT FAY. "My visual orbs are purged from film, and, lo! Her trees of tinsel kiss'd by freakish gales, TENNANT'S ANSTER FAIR. I. 'Tis the middle watch of a summer's night- But the moon, and the stars, and the cloudless sky, She mellows the shades on his shaggy breast, II. The stars are on the moving stream, Till morning spreads her rosy wings, III. "Tis the hour of fairy ban and spell: Who sleeps with him in the haunted tree, And call the fays to their revelry; Twelve small strokes on his tinkling bell ('T was made of the white snail's pearly shell:-) "Midnight comes, and all is well! Hither, hither, wing your way! 'Tis the dawn of the fairy-day." IV. They come from beds of lichen green, Where they swung in their cobweb hammocks And rock'd about in the evening breeze; [high, Some from the hum-bird's downy nestThey had driven him out by elfin power, And, pillow'd on plumes of his rainbow breast, Had slumber'd there till the charmed hour; Some had lain in the scoop of the rock, With glittering ising-stars inlaid; And some had open'd the four-o'clock, And stole within its purple shade. And now they throng the moonlight glade, Above-below-on every side, Their little minim forms array'd In the tricksy pomp of fairy pride! V. They come not now to print the lea, For this the shadowy tribes of air To the elfin court must haste away:And now they stand expectant there, To hear the doom of the culprit Fay. VI. The throne was rear'd upon the grass, Hung the burnished canopy- And his peers were ranged around the throne. He waved his sceptre in the air, He look'd around and calmly spoke; His brow was grave and his eye severe, VII. Fairy! Fairy! list and mark: Thou hast broke thine elfin chain; Thy flame-wood lamp is quench'd and dark, And thy wings are dyed with a deadly stainThou hast sullied thine elfin purity In the glance of a mortal maiden's eye, And thou shouldst pay the forfeit high, Tied to the hornet's shardy wings; Of the worm, and the bug, and the murder'd fly: Had a stain been found on the earthly fair. VIII. "Thou shalt seek the beach of sand Where the water bounds the elfin land; Thou shalt watch the oozy brine Till the sturgeon leaps in the bright moonshine, And dash around, with roar and rave, IX. "If the spray-bead gem be won, The stain of thy wing is wash'd away: But another errand must be done Ere thy crime be lost for aye; Thy flame-wood lamp is quench'd and dark, To the heaven's blue canopy; And when thou seest a shooting star, The last faint spark of its burning train X. The goblin mark'd his monarch well; And turn'd him round in act to go. His soiled wing has lost its power, And he winds adown the mountain high, For many a sore and weary hour. Through dreary beds of tangled fern, Through groves of nightshade dark and dern, Over the grass and through the brake, Where toils the ant and sleeps the snake; Now o'er the violet's azure flush He skips along in lightsome mood; And now he thrids the bramble-bush, Till its points are dyed in fairy blood. He has leap'd the bog, he has pierced the brier, He has swum the brook, and waded the mire, Till his spirits sank, and his limbs grew weak, For rugged and dim was his onward track, But there came a spotted toad in sight, And he laugh'd as he jump'd upon her back; He bridled her mouth with a silkweed twist, He lash'd 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 reach'd 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, And the bend of his graceful bow is seenA glittering arch of silver sheen, Spanning the wave of burnish'd blue, And dripping with gems of the river-dew. 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 toss'd a tiny curve in air, And headlong plunged in the waters blue. XIII. Up sprung the spirits of the waves, From the sea-silk beds in their coral caves, They speed their way through the liquid waste; On the mailed shrimp or the prickly prong, Some on the stony star-fish ride, Some on the back of the lancing squab, Some on the sideling soldier-crab ; XIV. Fearlessly he skims along, His hope is high, and his limbs are strong, Their warriors come in swift career And hem him round on every side; And the crab has struck with his giant claw; Fairy naught is left but flight. XV. He turn'd him round, and fled amain And they stunn'd his ears with the scallop stroke, When he reach'd the foot of the dogwood tree. And he bann'd the water goblin's spite, Giggling and laughing with all their might XVI. Soon he gather'd the balsam dew From the sorrel-leaf and the henbane bud; Over each wound the balm he drew, And with cobweb lint he stanch'd the blood. The mild west wind was soft and low, It cool'd 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. Wrapp'd 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-land; He must work with a human hand. XVIII. 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 glow'd with purple paint without, And shone with silvery pearl within; A sculler's notch in the stern he made, XIX. The imps of the river yell and rave; And they dash'd the surge against her side, The quarl uprear'd his island back, And the fluttering scallop behind would float, xx. Onward still he held his way, Till he came where the column of moonshine lay, The brown-back'd sturgeon slowly swim: XXI. With sweeping tail and quivering fin, Through the wave the sturgeon flew, And, like the heaven-shot javelin, He sprung above the waters blue. Instant as the star-fall light, He plunged him in the deep again, But left an arch of silver bright, The rainbow of the moony main. It was a strange and lovely sight To see the puny goblin there; He seem'd 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. He cast a sadden'd look around, But he felt new joy his bosom swell, When, glittering on the shadow'd ground, He saw a purple muscle-shell; XXII. A moment, and its lustre fell; But ere it met the billow blue, He caught within his crimson bell Thy wings are pure, for the gem is won- XXIII. He turns, and, lo! on either side And the track o'er which his boat must pass 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 leap'd to land, They bade adieu with nod and bow, Then gayly kiss'd each little hand, And dropp'd in the crystal deep below. XXIV. A moment stay'd the fairy there; He kiss'd the beach and breathed a prayer; And shine with a thousand changing dyes, And gleams with blendings soft and bright, He put his acorn helmet on; It was plumed of the silk of the thistle-down: His cloak, of a thousand mingled dyes, And the quivering lance which he brandish'd bright, Swift he bestrode his fire-fly steed; He bared his blade of the bent grass blue; And away like a glance of thought he flew, They had been roused from the haunted ground By the yelp and bay of the fairy hound; They had heard the tiny bugle-horn, They had heard the twang of the maize-silk string, When the vine-twig bows were tightly drawn, And the needle-shaft through air was borne, Feather'd with down of the hum-bird's wing. And now they deem'd the courier ouphe, Some hunter-sprite of the elfin ground; And they watch'd till they saw him mount the roof That canopies the world around; Then glad they left their covert lair, And freak'd about in the midnight air. XXVII. Up to the vaulted firmament 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, He lashes his steed and spurs amain, For shadowy hands have twitch'd the rein, And flame-shot tongues around him play'd, And near him many a fiendish eye Glared with a fell malignity, And yells of rage, and shrieks of fear, XXVIII. His wings are wet around his breast, He thrust before and he struck behind, They rend the air with frightful ies, For he has gain'd the welkin blue, And the land of clouds beneath him lies 190 XXIX. Up to the cope careering swift, On a sheet of azure cast. O! it was sweet, in the clear moonlight, And feel the cooling breath of heaven! And watch'd for the glimpse of the planet-shoot. XXX. Sudden along the snowy tide That swell'd to meet their footsteps' fall, The palace of the sylphid queen. ΧΧΧΙ. But, O! how fair the shape that lay The loveliest of the forms of light; At twilight in the west afar; "T was tied with threads of dawning gold, And button'd with a sparkling star. Her face was like the lily roon That veils the vestal planet's hue; Her eyes, two beamlets from the moon, Set floating in the welkin blue. Her hair is like the sunny beam, And the diamond gems which round it gleam XXXII. She raised her eyes to the wondering sprite, And they leap'd with smiles, for well I ween Never before in the bowers of light Had the form of an earthly Fay been seen. Long she look'd in his tiny face; Long with his butterfly cloak she play'd; And as he told in accents low She felt new pains in her bosom rise, Return no more to your woodland height, But ever here with me abide. In the land of everlasting light! Around thy brow shall brightly beam! We'll rest on Orion's starry belt, And I will bid my sylphs to sing 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 lengthen'd ray; While heavenly breathings float around, XXXIII. She was lovely and fair to see On that sweet cheek and moonlight eye, To clasp her in his revery, To think upon his virgin bride, Was worth all heaven, and earth beside. XXXIV. "Lady," he cried, "I have sworn to-night, I may not soil its snows again; Its mandate must be answer'd now." And call'd the sylphs who hover'd there, |