These it had been your lot to bear, "Thou shalt seek the beach of sand Till the sturgeon leaps in the bright moonshine, Then dart the glistening arch below, And dash around, with roar and rave, "If the spray-bead gem be won, The stain of thy wing is washed away, But another errand must be done Ere thy crime be lost for aye; Thy flame-wood lamp is quenched and dark, Thou must re-illumine its spark. And when thou seest a shooting star, The last faint spark of its burning train THE FIRST QUEST The goblin marked his monarch well; Ile spake not, but he bowed him low, Then plucked a crimson colon-bell, And turned him round in nct to go. The way is long, he cannot fly, 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, And now he thrids the bramble bush, He has swum the brook, and waded the mire, Till his spirits sank, and his limbs grew weak, And the red waxed fainter in his cheek. For rugged and dim was his onward track, But there came a spotted tond 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. 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 seen A glittering arch of silver sheen, 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. Up sprung the spirits of the waves, With snail-plato 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, Fearlessly he skims along, His hope is high, and his limbs are strong, Ile 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-beads 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; He strikes around, but his blows are vain; He turned him round and fled amain With the porpoise heave and the drum-fish croak. THE SECOND QUEST Up, Fairy! quit thy chick-weed bower, He put his acorn helmet on; It was plumed of the silk of the thistle down; The corselet plate that guarded his breast Studs of gold on a ground of green; Was the sting of a wasp he had slain in fight. Swift he bestrode his fire-fly steed; The moth-fly, as he shot in air, gone, And the wily beetle dropped his head, shade, They quaked all o'er with awe and fear, For they had felt the blue-bent blade, And writhed at the prick of the elfin spear; Many a time on a summer's night, When the sky was clear and the moon was bright, They had been roused from the haunted ground, By the yelp and bay of the fairy hound; They had heard the twang of the maizesilk string, When the vine-twig bows were tightly drawn, And the nettle shaft through air was borne, Feathered with down of the hum-bird's wing. And now they deemed the courier ouphe Some hunter sprite of the elfin ground; And they watched till they saw him mount the roof That canopies the world around; Then glad they left their covert lair, And freaked about in the midnight air. Up to the vaulted firmament His path the fire-fly courser bent, And at every gallop on the wind, He flung a glittering spark behind; He flies like a feather in the blast 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; He lashes his steed and spurs amain, And near him many a fiendish cye Ilis wings are wet around his breast, And his ears are stunned with the thunder's blare, But he gave a shout, and his blade he drew, Ile thrust before and he struck behind, Till he pierced their cloudy bodies through, And gashed their shadowy limbs of wind; Howling the misty spectres flew, They rend the air with frightful cries, For he has gained the welkin blue, And the land of clouds beneath him lies. Up to the cope careering swift In breathless motion fast, And feel the cooling breath of heaven! THE AMERICAN FLAG WHEN Freedom from her mountain height And set the stars of glory there. Majestie monarch of the cloud, Who rear'st aloft thy regal form, To hear the tempest trumpings loud And see the lightning lances driven, When strive the warriors of the storm, And rolls the thunder-drum of heaven, Child of the sun! to thee 't is given To guard the banner of the free, Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly, Each soldier eye shall brightly turn Flag of the seas! on ocean wave Flag of the free heart's hope and home! And all thy hues were born in heaven. With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us ? "The Croakers" (HALLECK AND DRAKE) THE NATIONAL PAINTINGS COL. TRUMBULL'S "THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE" AWAKE, ye forms of verse divine! Your son, your glorious son, I sing; The Guido of a pair of breeches! Come, star-eyed maid, Equality! In thine adorer's praise I revel; And there they stand in dread array, How bright their buttons shine! how straight Their coat-flaps fall in plaited grace! |