Their airy dress Arachne wove,

And tiniest flow'rs that deck the grove Adorn'd each fairy's head.

Deep in the middle of the wood,
Hollow'd by time, a cavern stood,
Gloomy and dark to sight;

There, 'mid its lonely depths confin'd,
Murmurs the softly solemn wind,
All through the summer night.

"Twas here the fairies stopp'd at last, And one, as at my feet he pass'd, His elfin cap let fall;

With eager hand I seiz'd the prize-
For magic feats delight his eyes
Who wins this trophy small.

But ah! no pen can paint aright
The wonders now that met my sight!
Advancing from the crowd

The tallest of the elfin band

Shook high in air his slender wand,
Which like a meteor glow'd.

Hark! mystic sounds begin to play
Along the cavern's winding way!
And lo! the scene is chang'd!

FAIRY BALLAD.

Rose to my view a festive hall,

While starry lamps along the wall,
In brightest order rang'd!

Pillars in long perspective cast

Glitter'd, and those which seem'd the last,
In depth of shade withdrew;
Around, an hundred mirrors shine,
And give the never-ending line
Reflected to the view!

It was a splendid scene, and rare,
No picture ever half so fair

Was shewn to mortal eye;

Most like it are those landscapes bright,
Which come and vanish in the light
Of Autumn's evening sky.

But what in all that met my eyes
Most fill'd my bosom with surprise,
Was this: each fairy staid
To take from forth a golden cruse
An ointment of mysterious use,
Which on his eyes he laid.

And now the giddy dance begins,
The vaulted roof with laughter rings,

They wheel-they bound-they run;

19

While wrapt in thoughtless ecstacy,

Their mirth, when hours have flitted by,
Seems only just begun!

Now they come on, and now retreat,

And now in circling band they meet,
Now higher leap and higher;

Their agile forms are knit so light,

That, though they dance the live-long night,

They never stop nor tire!

At last the merry sprights from view
Into a distant nook withdrew,

And feasting rul'd the hour.

Unguarded now the cruse was left;
Unmark'd by all the secret theft,
I tried its magic power,

And on my eyelids laid the charm.—
Unearthly sounds mine ears alarm!
Thick vapours 'gan to play

O'er all the scene!-the visions fade
From light to pale, from pale to shade,
And pass in air away!

Where I had view'd the glitt'ring room,
The cavern now extends its gloom,
And startled bats are seen;

FAIRY BALLAD.

Where late the lamps their lustre threw,
Wild weeds, and creeping mosses grew,
And cobwebs hung between.

And is it thus, with grief I cried,

Is thus your phantom pomp supplied

But with delusive show?

Vain words! to answer none were there-
Faint sounds alone disturb'd the air
Of steps in haste to go.

Yet though no fairies staid behind,
With ease their moral we may find;
And let us mark it well:

Is it not thus through life we go,

Charm'd with vain joys that end in woe,
Nor deem them unsubstantial show,

Till death dissolves the spell?

1828.

21

Note.

When this Ballad was written the Author had not seen the pretty fairy tale entitled Norval, which is introduced in "Reverses, or the Fairfax family," in which the same superstition of the magic ointment is chosen to convey the moral.

Now Spring from her green mantle flings Sweet flow'rs, and decks with buds the tree, But yet no bud nor flow'r she brings

So sweet, lov'd child, as thou to me!

No note that from the wood resounds
Falls half so sweetly on mine ear,
As those soft, murm'ring, dove-like sounds
That tell thy cherub form is near.

More gay delights let others seek;
Match me the joy that equals this,
To print upon thy yielding cheek
The fervour of a mother's kiss!

To watch those blue and beaming eyes,
That innocent and placid air,

That smile as soft as vernal skies,

Which only peace like thine may wear.

Ere long thy smooth and polish'd brow
Must own the wrinkling hand of time;
The rose that paints thy young cheek now

Shall wither in the world's rude clime.