LXXVIII.

"But here upon his final desperate clause
Suddenly I pronounc'd so sweet a strain,
Like a pang'd nightingale, it made him
Till half the frenzy of his grief was slain,

The sad remainder oozing from his brain

In timely ecstacies of healing tears,

pause,

Which through his ardent eyes began to drain ;

Meanwhile the deadly Fates unclos'd their shears :So pity me and all fated peers!

my

LXXIX.

Thus Ariel ended, and was some time hush'd:

When with the hoary shape a fresh tongue pleads,

And red as rose the gentle Fairy blush'd

To read the record of her own good deeds :

"It chanc'd," quoth she, "in seeking through the meads For honied cowslips, sweetest in the morn,

Whilst yet the buds were hung with dewy beads,

And Echo answer'd to the huntsman's horn,

We found a babe left in the swarths forlorn.

LXXX.

"A little, sorrowful, deserted thing,

Begot of love, and yet no love begetting ;
Guiltless of shame, and yet for shame to wring;
And too soon banish'd from a mother's petting,
To churlish nurture and the wide world's fretting,
For alien pity and unnatural care ;—

Alas! to see how the cold dew kept wetting
His childish coats, and dabbled all his hair,
Like gossamers across his forehead fair.

LXXXI.

"His pretty pouting mouth, witless of speech,
Lay half-way open like a rose-lipp'd shell;
And his young cheek was softer than a peach,
Whereon his tears, for roundness, could not dwell,
But quickly roll'd themselves to pearls, and fell,
Some on the grass, and some against his hand,
Or haply wander'd to the dimpled well,

Which love beside his mouth had sweetly plann'd,
Yet not for tears, but mirth and smilings bland.

66

LXXXII.

Pity it was to see those frequent tears

Falling regardless from his friendless eyes;

There was such beauty in those twin blue spheres, As any mother's heart might leap to prize;

Blue were they, like the zenith of the skies.

Soften'd betwixt two clouds, both clear and mild ;–
Just touch'd with thought, and yet not over wise,
They show'd the gentle spirit of a child,
Not yet by care or any craft defil'd.

LXXXIII.

66

Pity it was to see the ardent sun

Scorching his helpless limbs-it shone so warm;
For kindly shade or shelter he had none,

Nor mother's gentle breast, come fair or storm.
Meanwhile I bade my pitying mates transform
Like grasshoppers, and then, with shrilly cries,
All round the infant noisily we swarm,
Haply some passing rustic to advise—

Whilst providential Heav'n our care espies,

LXXXIV.

"And sends full soon a tender-hearted hind,
Who, wond'ring at our loud unusual note,
Strays curiously aside, and so doth find
The orphan child laid in the grass remote,
And laps the foundling in his russet coat,
Who thence was nurtur'd in his kindly cot :-
But how he prosper'd let proud London quote,
How wise, how rich, and how renown'd he got,
And chief of all her citizens, I wot.

LXXXV.

"Witness his goodly vessels on the Thames,

Whose holds were fraught with costly merchandise,—-
Jewels from Ind, and pearls for courtly dames,

And gorgeous silks that Samarcand supplies :
Witness that Royal Bourse he bade arise,

The mart of merchants from the East and West;
Whose slender summit, pointing to the skies,
Still bears, in token of his grateful breast,
The tender grasshopper, his chosen crest-

LXXXVI.

"The tender grasshopper, his chosen crest, That all the summer, with a tuneful wing,

Makes merry chirpings in its grassy nest,

Inspirited with dew to leap and sing :-
So let us also live, eternal King!

Partakers of the green and pleasant earth :

Pity it is to slay the meanest thing,

That, like a mote, shines in the smile of mirth :---
Enough there is of joy's decrease and dearth!

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LXXXVII.

Enough of pleasure, and delight, and beauty, Perish'd and gone, and hasting to decay ;— Enough to sadden even thee, whose duty

Or spite it is to havoc and to slay :

Too many a lovely race raz'd quite away,

Hath left large gaps in life and human loving :—

Here then begin thy cruel war to stay,

And spare fresh sighs, and tears, and groans, reproving

Thy desolating hand for our removing."