The Plea Of The Midsummer Fairies.[1] Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A BCBCCDCDD A EFEFFGFHG A ICIJJCJCC K LMLMMDMDD K CJCJNDJDD K OCOCCPCPP K ICICCQCQQ K HCHCCCCCC C RGRGGSGSS C TITMICICC C UVUVVWVWW C CHCHCVHVV C XJXJJCJCC K QCQCCCCCC K YV VVVVVV K VDVDZA2DA2A2 K QB2QB2B2CB2CC K VVVVVKVKK C C2QC2QQB2QB2B2 C VYVYYCYCC C YVBVVCVCC C DVDVVDVDD C DB2DB2B2D2B2D2D2 K B2DB2DDCDCC K DE2DE2E2VE2VV K E2VE2VVF2VF2G2 K CCCCCCCCC K H2QH2QQVQVV C CCCCCDCDD C CB2CB2B2B2B2B2B2 C CVCVVQVQQ C KVKVVE2VE2E2 C QQQQQI2QI2I2 K DE2DE2E2C CC K CQCQQJQJJ K CB2CB2B2J2B2C2C2 K B2VB2VVDVDD K QVQVVCVCC C KCKCCVCVV E2 CKCKKCKCC E2 CVCVVE2VE2E2 E2 KCKCCB2CB2B2 E2 KB2KB2B2D2B2D2D2 K CVCVV VDD K CVCVVVVVV K B2VB2VVK2VK2K2 K VB2VB2B2VB2VV K VCVCCKCKK C E2VE2VVB2VB2B2 E2 CCCCCQCQQ E2 E2KE2KKE2KE2E2 K CKCKKB2KB2B2 K CCCCCQC Q K E2KE2KKVKVV K KVKVVVVVV K CCCCCCCCC K KQKQQCQCC K VCVCCECEE C VB2VB2B2CB2CC C CKCKKCKCC C VB2VB2B2QB2QQ C CVCVVVVVV C CVCVVCVCC E XL2XL2L2CL2CC E VKVKKB2KB2B2 E DKDKKKKKK E KCKCCVCVV E VVVVVB2VB2B2 C VCVCCDCDD C CKCKKDKDD C M2B2M2B2B2QB2Q C CECEEVEVV C KCKCCCCCC E VCVCCCCCC E KB2KB2B2CB2CC E VVVVVCVCC E B2QB2QQEQEE E CB2CB2B2CB2CC C VCVCCB2CB2B2 C QQQQQCQCC C M2KM2KKVKVV C CCCCCVCVV C B2DB2DDCDCC E VVVVVVVVV E CCCCCVCVV E VQVQQL2QL2L2 E VEVEEQEQQ E KQKQQKQKK C EVEVVCVCC Q QCQCCKCKK C KVKVVVVVV C CKCKKB2KB2B2 C VEVEEN2EN2N2 E VM2VM2M2QM2QQ E O2B2P2B2B2KB2KK E M2VM2VVKVKK E B2VB2VVVVVV E CN2CN2N2CN2CC C VQ2VR2Q2KS2KK K CKCKKDKDD C VCVCCVCVV C B2DB2DDVDVV C KVKVVVVVV K VB2VB2B2B2B2B2B2 K KB2KB2B2VB2VV K DCDCCB2CB2B2 K CCCCCCCCC K KN2KN2N2KN2KK C KKKKKVKVV C QCQCCCCCC C KCKCCQCQQ C B2CB2CCVCVV C VL2VL2L2VL2VV K KKKKKCKCC K B2VB2VVCVCC K KDKDDCDCC K QKQKKT2KT2T2 K VKVKKDKDD C VVVVVB2VB2B2 C DVDVVEVEE C CVCVVB2VB2B2 C DVDVVCVCC C KCKCCCCCC K VVVVVB2VB2B2 K VVVVVDVDD K CDCDDVDVV

I	A
	-
'Twas in that mellow season of the year	B
When the hot sun singes the yellow leaves	C
Till they be gold and with a broader sphere	B
The Moon looks down on Ceres and her sheaves	C
When more abundantly the spider weaves	C
And the cold wind breathes from a chillier clime	D
That forth I fared on one of those still eves	C
Touch'd with the dewy sadness of the time	D
To think how the bright months had spent their prime	D
	-
	-
II	A
	-
So that wherever I address'd my way	E
I seem'd to track the melancholy feet	F
Of him that is the Father of Decay	E
And spoils at once the sour weed and the sweet	F
Wherefore regretfully I made retreat	F
To some unwasted regions of my brain	G
Charm'd with the light of summer and the heat	F
And bade that bounteous season bloom again	H
And sprout fresh flowers in mine own domain	G
	-
	-
III	A
	-
It was a shady and sequester'd scene	I
Like those famed gardens of Boccaccio	C
Planted with his own laurels evergreen	I
And roses that for endless summer blow	J
And there were fountain springs to overflow	J
Their marble basins and cool green arcades	C
Of tall o'erarching sycamores to throw	J
Athwart the dappled path their dancing shades	C
With timid coneys cropping the green blades	C
	-
	-
IV	K
	-
And there were crystal pools peopled with fish	L
Argent and gold and some of Tyrian skin	M
Some crimson barr'd and ever at a wish	L
They rose obsequious till the wave grew thin	M
As glass upon their backs and then dived in	M
Quenching their ardent scales in watery gloom	D
Whilst others with fresh hues row'd forth to win	M
My changeable regard for so we doom	D
Things born of thought to vanish or to bloom	D
	-
	-
V	K
	-
And there were many birds of many dyes	C
From tree to tree still faring to and fro	J
And stately peacocks with their splendid eyes	C
And gorgeous pheasants with their golden glow	J
Like Iris just bedabbled in her bow	N
Beside some vocalists without a name	D
That oft on fairy errands come and go	J
With accents magical and all were tame	D
And peckled at my hand where'er I came	D
	-
	-
VI	K
	-
And for my sylvan company in lieu	O
Of Pampinea with her lively peers	C
Sate Queen Titania with her pretty crew	O
All in their liveries quaint with elfin gears	C
For she was gracious to my childish years	C
And made me free of her enchanted round	P
Wherefore this dreamy scene she still endears	C
And plants her court upon a verdant mound	P
Fenced with umbrageous woods and groves profound	P
	-
	-
VII	K
	-
Ah me she cries was ever moonlight seen	I
So clear and tender for our midnight trips	C
Go some one forth and with a trump convene	I
My lieges all Away the goblin skips	C
A pace or two apart and deftly strips	C
The ruddy skin from a sweet rose's cheek	Q
Then blows the shuddering leaf between his lips	C
Making it utter forth a shrill small shriek	Q
Like a fray'd bird in the gray owlet's beak	Q
	-
	-
VIII	K
	-
And lo upon my fix'd delighted ken	H
Appear'd the loyal Fays Some by degrees	C
Crept from the primrose buds that open'd then	H
Ana some from bell shaped blossoms like the bees	C
Some from the dewy meads and rushy leas	C
Flew up like chafers when the rustics pass	C
Some from the rivers others from tall trees	C
Dropp'd like shed blossoms silent to the grass	C
Spirits and elfins small of every class	C
	-
	-
IX	C
	-
Peri and Pixy and quaint Puck the Antic	R
Brought Robin Goodfellow that merry swain	G
And stealthy Mab queen of old realms romantic	R
Came too from distance in her tiny wain	G
Fresh dripping from a cloud some bloomy rain	G
Then circling the bright Moon had wash'd her car	S
And still bedew'd it with a various stain	G
Lastly came Ariel shooting from a star	S
Who bears all fairy embassies afar	S
	-
	-
X	C
	-
But Oberon that night elsewhere exiled	T
Was absent whether some distemper'd spleen	I
Kept him and his fair mate unreconciled	T
Or warfare with the Gnome whose race had been	M
Sometime obnoxious kept him from his queen	I
And made her now peruse the starry skies	C
Prophetical with such an absent mien	I
Howbeit the tears stole often to her eyes	C
And oft the Moon was incensed with her sighs	C
	-
	-
XI	C
	-
Which made the elves sport drearily and soon	U
Their hushing dances languish'd to a stand	V
Like midnight leaves when as the Zephyrs swoon	U
All on their drooping stems they sink unfann'd	V
So into silence droop'd the fairy band	V
To see their empress dear so pale and still	W
Crowding her softly round on either hand	V
As pale as frosty snowdrops and as chill	W
To whom the sceptred dame reveals her ill	W
	-
	-
XII	C
	-
Alas quoth she ye know our fairy lives	C
Are leased upon the fickle faith of men	H
Not measured out against Fate's mortal knives	C
Like human gosamers we perish when	H
We fade and are forgot in worldly kens	C
Though poesy has thus prolong'd our date	V
Thanks be to the sweet Bard's auspicious pen	H
That rescued us so long howbeit of late	V
I feel some dark misgivings of our fate	V
	-
	-
XIII	C
	-
And this dull day my melancholy sleep	X
Hath been so thronged with images of woe	J
That even now I cannot choose but weep	X
To think this was some sad prophetic show	J
Of future horror to befall us so	J
Of mortal wreck and uttermost distress	C
Yea our poor empire's fall and overthrow	J
For this was my long vision's dreadful stress	C
And when I waked my trouble was not less	C
	-
	-
XIV	K
	-
Whenever to the clouds I tried to seek	Q
Such leaden weight dragg'd these Icarian wings	C
My faithless wand was wavering and weak	Q
And slimy toads had trespass'd in our rings	C
The birds refused to sing for me all things	C
Disown'd their old allegiance to our spells	C
The rude bees prick'd me with their rebel stings	C
And when I pass'd the valley lily's bells	C
Rang out methought most melancholy knells	C
	-
	-
XV	K
	-
And ever on the faint and flagging air	Y
A doleful spirit with a dreary note	V
Cried in my fearful ear 'Prepare prepare '	-
Which soon I knew came from a raven's throat	V
Perch'd on a cypress bough not far remote	V
A cursed bird too crafty to be shot	V
That alway cometh with his soot black coat	V
To make hearts dreary for he is a blot	V
Upon the book of life as well ye wot	V
	-
	-
XVI	K
	-
Wherefore some while I bribed him to be mute	V
With bitter acorns stuffing his foul maw	D
Which barely I appeased when some fresh bruit	V
Startled me all aheap and soon I saw	D
The horridest shape that ever raised my awe	Z
A monstrous giant very huge and tall	A2
Such as in elder times devoid of law	D
With wicked might grieved the primeval ball	A2
And this was sure the deadliest of them all	A2
	-
	-
XVII	K
	-
Gaunt was he as a wolf of Languedoc	Q
With bloody jaws and frost upon his crown	B2
So from his barren poll one hoary lock	Q
Over his wrinkled front fell far adown	B2
Well nigh to where his frosty brows did frown	B2
Like jagged icicles at cottage eaves	C
And for his coronal he wore some brown	B2
And bristled ears gather'd from Ceres' sheaves	C
Entwined with certain sere and russet leaves	C
	-
	-
XVIII	K
	-
And lo upon a mast rear'd far aloft	V
He bore a very bright and crescent blade	V
The which he waved so dreadfully and oft	V
In meditative spite that sore dismay'd	V
I crept into an acorn cup for shade	V
Meanwhile the horrid effigy went by	K
I trow his look was dreadful for it made	V
The trembling birds betake them to the sky	K
For every leaf was lifted by his sigh	K
	-
	-
XIX	C
	-
And ever as he sigh'd his foggy breath	C2
Blurr'd out the landscape like a flight of smoke	Q
Thence knew I this was either dreary Death	C2
Or Time who leads all creatures to his stroke	Q
Ah wretched me Here even as she spoke	Q
The melancholy Shape came gliding in	B2
And lean'd his back against an antique oak	Q
Folding his wings that were so fine and thin	B2
They scarce were seen against the Dryad's skin	B2
	-
	-
XX	C
	-
Then what a fear seized all the little rout	V
Look how a flock of panick'd sheep will stare	Y
And huddle close and start and wheel about	V
Watching the roaming mongrel here and there	Y
So did that sudden Apparition scare	Y
All close aheap those small affrighted things	C
Nor sought they now the safety of the air	Y
As if some leaden spell withheld their wings	C
But who can fly that ancientest of Kings	C
	-
	-
XXI	C
	-
Whom now the Queen with a forestalling tear	Y
And previous sigh beginneth to entreat	V
Bidding him spare for love her lieges dear	B
Alas quoth she is there no nodding wheat	V
Ripe for thy crooked weapon and more meet	V
Or wither'd leaves to ravish from the tree	C
Or crumbling battlements for thy defeat	V
Think but what vaunting monuments there be	C
Builded in spite and mockery of thee	C
	-
	-
XXII	C
	-
O fret away the fabric walls of Fame	D
And grind down marble C sars with the dust	V
Make tombs inscriptionless raze each high name	D
And waste old armors of renown with rust	V
Do all of this and thy revenge is just	V
Make such decays the trophies of thy prime	D
And check Ambition's overweening lust	V
That dares exterminating war with Time	D
But we are guiltless of that lofty crime	D
	-
	-
XXIII	C
	-
Frail feeble spirits the children of a dream	D
Leased on the sufferance of fickle men	B2
Like motes dependent on the sunny beam	D
Living but in the sun's indulgent ken	B2
And when that light withdraws withdrawing then	B2
So do we flutter in the glance of youth	D2
And fervid fancy and so perish when	B2
The eye of faith grows aged in sad truth	D2
Feeling thy sway O Time though not thy tooth	D2
	-
	-
XXIV	K
	-
Where be those old divinities forlorn	B2
That dwelt in trees or haunted in a stream	D
Alas their memories are dimm'd and torn	B2
Like the remainder tatters of a dream	D
So will it fare with our poor thrones I deem	D
For us the same dark trench Oblivion delves	C
That holds the wastes of every human scheme	D
O spare us then and these our pretty elves	C
We soon alas shall perish of ourselves	C
	-
	-
XXV	K
	-
Now as she ended with a sigh to name	D
Those old Olympians scatter'd by the whirl	E2
Of Fortune's giddy wheel and brought to shame	D
Methought a scornful and malignant curl	E2
Show'd on the lips of that malicious churl	E2
To think what noble havocs he had made	V
So that I fear'd he all at once would hurl	E2
The harmless fairies into endless shade	V
Howbeit he stopp'd awhile to whet his blade	V
	-
	-
XXVI	K
	-
Pity it was to hear the elfins' wail	E2
Rise up in concert from their mingled dread	V
Pity it was to see them all so pale	E2
Gaze on the grass as for a dying bed	V
But Puck was seated on a spider's thread	V
That hung between two branches of a briar	F2
And 'gan to swing and gambol heels o'er head	V
Like any Southwark tumbler on a wire	F2
For him no present grief could long inspire	G2
	-
	-
XXVII	K
	-
Meanwhile the Queen with many piteous drops	C
Falling like tiny sparks full fast and free	C
Bedews a pathway from her throne and stops	C
Before the foot of her arch enemy	C
And with her little arms enfolds his knee	C
That shows more grisly from that fair embrace	C
But she will ne'er depart Alas quoth she	C
My painful fingers I will here enlace	C
Till I have gain'd your pity for our race	C
	-
	-
XXVIII	K
	-
What have we ever done to earn this grudge	H2
And hate if not too humble for thy hating	Q
Look o'er our labors and our lives and judge	H2
If there be any ills of our creating	Q
For we are very kindly creatures dating	Q
With nature's charities still sweet and bland	V
O think this murder worthy of debating	Q
Herewith she makes a signal with her hand	V
To beckon some one from the Fairy band	V
	-
	-
XXIX	C
	-
Anon I saw one of those elfin things	C
Clad all in white like any chorister	C
Come fluttering forth on his melodious wings	C
That made soft music at each little stir	C
But something louder than a bee's demur	C
Before he lights upon a bunch of broom	D
And thus 'gan he with Saturn to confer	C
And O his voice was sweet touch'd with the gloom	D
Of that sad theme that argued of his doom	D
	-
	-
XXX	C
	-
Quoth he We make all melodies our care	C
That no false discords may offend the Sun	B2
Music's great master tuning everywhere	C
All pastoral sounds and melodies each one	B2
Duly to place and season so that none	B2
May harshly interfere We rouse at morn	B2
The shrill sweet lark and when the day is done	B2
Hush silent pauses for the bird forlorn	B2
That singeth with her breast against a thorn	B2
	-
	-
XXXI	C
	-
We gather in loud choirs the twittering race	C
That make a chorus with their single note	V
And tend on new fledged birds in every place	C
That duly they may get their tunes by rote	V
And oft like echoes answering remote	V
We hide in thickets from the feather'd throng	Q
And strain in rivalship each throbbing throat	V
Singing in shrill responses all day long	Q
Whilst the glad truant listens to our song	Q
	-
	-
XXXII	C
	-
Wherefore great King of Years as thou dost love	K
The raining music from a morning cloud	V
When vanish'd larks are carolling above	K
To wake Apollo with their pipings loud	V
If ever thou hast heard in leafy shroud	V
The sweet and plaintive Sappho of the dell	E2
Show thy sweet mercy on this little crowd	V
And we will muffle up the sheepfold bell	E2
Whene'er thou listenest to Philomel	E2
	-
	-
XXXIII	C
	-
Then Saturn thus Sweet is the merry lark	Q
That carols in man's ear so clear and strong	Q
And youth must love to listen in the dark	Q
That tuneful elegy of Tereus' wrong	Q
But I have heard that ancient strain too long	Q
For sweet is sweet but when a little strange	I2
And I grow weary for some newer song	Q
For wherefore had I wings unless to range	I2
Through all things mutable from change to change	I2
	-
	-
XXXIV	K
	-
But would'st thou hear the melodies of Time	D
Listen when sleep and drowsy darkness roll	E2
Over hush'd cities and the midnight chime	D
Sounds from their hundred clocks and deep bells toll	E2
Like a last knell over the dead world's soul	E2
Saying 'Time shall be final of all things	C
Whose late last voice must elegize the whole '	-
O then I clap aloft my brave broad wings	C
And make the wide air tremble while it rings	C
	-
	-
XXXV	K
	-
Then next a fair Eve Fay made meek address	C
Saying We be the handmaids of the Spring	Q
In sign whereof May the quaint broideress	C
Hath wrought her samplers on our gauzy wing	Q
We tend upon buds birth and blossoming	Q
And count the leafy tributes that they owe	J
As so much to the earth so much to fling	Q
In showers to the brook so much to go	J
In whirlwinds to the clouds that made them grow	J
	-
	-
XXXVI	K
	-
The pastoral cowslips are our little pets	C
And daisy stars whose firmament is green	B2
Pansies and those veil'd nuns meek violets	C
Sighing to that warm world from which they screen	B2
And golden daffodils pluck'd for May's Queen	B2
And lonely harebells quaking on the heath	J2
And Hyacinth long since a fair youth seen	B2
Whose tuneful voice turn'd fragrance in his breath	C2
Kiss'd by sad Zephyr guilty of his death	C2
	-
	-
XXXVII	K
	-
The widow'd primrose weeping to the moon	B2
And saffron crocus in whose chalice bright	V
A cool libation hoarded for the noon	B2
Is kept and she that purifies the light	V
The virgin lily faithful to her white	V
Whereon Eve wept in Eden for her shame	D
And the most dainty rose Aurora's spright	V
Our every godchild by whatever name	D
Spares us our lives for we did nurse the same	D
	-
	-
XXXVIII	K
	-
Then that old Mower stamp'd his heel and struck	Q
His hurtful scythe against the harmless ground	V
Saying Ye foolish imps when am I stuck	Q
With gaudy buds or like a wooer crown'd	V
With flow'ry chaplets save when they are found	V
Withered Whenever have I pluck'd a rose	C
Except to scatter its vain leaves around	V
For so all gloss of beauty I oppose	C
And bring decay on every flow'r that blows	C
	-
	-
XXXIX	C
	-
Or when am I so wroth as when I view	K
The wanton pride of Summer how she decks	C
The birthday world with blossoms ever new	K
As if Time had not lived and heap'd great wrecks	C
Of years on years O then I bravely vex	C
And catch the gay Months in their gaudy plight	V
And slay them with the wreaths about their necks	C
Like foolish heifers in the holy rite	V
And raise great trophies to my ancient might	V
	-
	-
XL	E2
	-
Then saith another We are kindly things	C
And like her offspring nestle with the dove	K
Witness these hearts embroidered on our wings	C
To show our constant patronage of love	K
We sit at even in sweet bow'rs above	K
Lovers and shake rich odors on the air	C
To mingle with their sighs and still remove	K
The startling owl and bid the bat forbear	C
Their privacy and haunt some other where	C
	-
	-
XLI	E2
	-
And we are near the mother when she sits	C
Beside her infant in its wicker bed	V
And we are in the fairy scene that flits	C
Across its tender brain sweet dreams we shed	V
And whilst the tender little soul is fled	V
Away to sport with our young elves the while	E2
We touch the dimpled cheek with roses red	V
And tickle the soft lips until they smile	E2
So that their careful parents they beguile	E2
	-
	-
XLII	E2
	-
O then if ever thou hast breathed a vow	K
At Love's dear portal or at pale moon rise	C
Crush'd the dear curl on a regardful brow	K
That did not frown thee from thy honey prize	C
If ever thy sweet son sat on thy thighs	C
And wooed thee from thy careful thoughts within	B2
To watch the harmless beauty of his eyes	C
Or glad thy fingers on his smooth soft skin	B2
For Love's dear sake let us thy pity win	B2
	-
	-
XLIII	E2
	-
Then Saturn fiercely thus What joy have I	K
In tender babes that have devour'd mine own	B2
Whenever to the light I heard them cry	K
Till foolish Rhea cheated me with stone	B2
Whereon till now is my great hunger shown	B2
In monstrous dint of my enormous tooth	D2
And but the peopled world is too full grown	B2
For hunger's edge I would consume all youth	D2
At one great meal without delay or ruth	D2
	-
	-
XLIV	K
	-
For I am well nigh crazed and wild to hear	C
How boastful fathers taunt me with their breed	V
Saying 'We shall not die nor disappear	C
But in these other selves ourselves succeed	V
Ev'n as ripe flowers pass into their seed	V
Only to be renew'd from prime to prime '	-
All of which boastings I am forced to read	V
Besides a thousand challenges to Time	D
Which bragging lovers have compiled in rhyme	D
	-
	-
XLV	K
	-
Wherefore when they are sweetly met o' nights	C
There will I steal and with my hurried hand	V
Startle them suddenly from their delights	C
Before the next encounter hath been plann'd	V
Ravishing hours in little minutes spann'd	V
But when they say farewell and grieve apart	V
Then like a leaden statue I will stand	V
Meanwhile their many tears encrust my dart	V
And with a ragged edge cut heart from heart	V
	-
	-
XLVI	K
	-
Then next a merry Woodsman clad in green	B2
Step vanward from his mates that idly stood	V
Each at his proper ease as they had been	B2
Nursed in the liberty of old Sh rwood	V
And wore the livery of Robin Hood	V
Who wont in forest shades to dine and sup	K2
So came this chief right frankly and made good	V
His haunch against his axe and thus spoke up	K2
Doffing his cap which was an acorn's cup	K2
	-
	-
XLVII	K
	-
We be small foresters and gay who tend	V
On trees and all their furniture of green	B2
Training the young boughs airily to bend	V
And show blue snatches of the sky between	B2
Or knit more close intricacies to screen	B2
Birds' crafty dwellings as may hide them best	V
But most the timid blackbird's she that seen	B2
Will bear black poisonous berries to her nest	V
Lest man should cage the darlings of her breast	V
	-
	-
XLVIII	K
	-
We bend each tree in proper attitude	V
And founting willows train in silvery falls	C
We frame all shady roofs and arches rude	V
And verdant aisles leading to Dryads' halls	C
Or deep recesses where the Echo calls	C
We shape all plumy trees against the sky	K
And carve tall elms' Corinthian capitals	C
When sometimes as our tiny hatchets ply	K
Men say the tapping woodpecker is nigh	K
	-
	-
XLIX	C
	-
Sometimes we scoop the squirrel's hollow cell	E2
And sometimes carve quaint letters on trees' rind	V
That haply some lone musing wight may spell	E2
Dainty Aminta Gentle Rosalind	V
Or chastest Laura sweetly call'd to mind	V
In sylvan solitudes ere he lies down	B2
And sometimes we enrich gray stems with twined	V
And vagrant ivy or rich moss whose brown	B2
Burns into gold as the warm sun goes down	B2
	-
	-
L	E2
	-
And lastly for mirth's sake and Christmas cheer	C
We bear the seedling berries for increase	C
To graft the Druid oaks from year to year	C
Careful that mistletoe may never cease	C
Wherefore if thou dost prize the shady peace	C
Of sombre forests or to see light break	Q
Through sylvan cloisters and in spring release	C
Thy spirit amongst leaves from careful ake	Q
Spare us our lives for the Green Dryad's sake	Q
	-
	-
LI	E2
	-
Then Saturn with a frown Go forth and fell	E2
Oak for your coffins and thenceforth lay by	K
Your axes for the rust and bid farewell	E2
To all sweet birds and the blue peeps of sky	K
Through tangled branches for ye shall not spy	K
The next green generation of the tree	E2
But hence with the dead leaves whene'e they fly	K
Which in the bleak air I would rather see	E2
Than flights of the most tuneful birds that be	E2
	-
	-
LII	K
	-
For I dislike all prime and verdant pets	C
Ivy except that on the aged wall	K
Prays with its worm like roots and daily frets	C
The crumbled tower it seems to league withal	K
King like worn down by its own coronal	K
Neither in forest haunts love I to won	B2
Before the golden plumage 'gins to fall	K
And leaves the brown bleak limbs with few leaves on	B2
Or bare like Nature in her skeleton	B2
	-
	-
LIII	K
	-
For then sit I amongst the crooked boughs	C
Wooing dull Memory with kindred sighs	C
And there in rustling nuptials we espouse	C
Smit by the sadness in each other's eyes	C
But Hope must have green bowers and blue skies	C
And must be courted with the gauds of Spring	Q
Whilst Youth leans god like on her lap and cries	C
'What shall we always do but love and sing '	-
And Time is reckon'd a discarded thing	Q
	-
	-
LIV	K
	-
Here in my dream it made me fret to see	E2
How Puck the antic all this dreary while	K
Had blithely jested with calamity	E2
With mis timed mirth mocking the doleful style	K
Of his sad comrades till it raised my bile	K
To see him so reflect their grief aside	V
Turning their solemn looks to have a smile	K
Like a straight stick shown crooked in the tide	V
But soon a novel advocate I spied	V
	-
	-
LV	K
	-
Quoth he We teach all natures to fulfil	K
Their fore appointed crafts and instincts meet	V
The bee's sweet alchemy the spider's skill	K
The pismire's care to garner up his wheat	V
And rustic masonry to swallows fleet	V
The lapwing's cunning to preserve her nest	V
But most that lesser pelican the sweet	V
And shrilly ruddock with its bleeding breast	V
Its tender pity of poor babes distrest	V
	-
	-
LVI	K
	-
Sometimes we cast our shapes and in sleek skins	C
Delve with the timid mole that aptly delves	C
From our example so the spider spins	C
And eke the silk worm pattern'd by ourselves	C
Sometimes we travail on the summer shelves	C
Of early bees and busy toils commence	C
Watch'd of wise men that know not we are elves	C
But gaze and marvel at our stretch of sense	C
And praise our human like intelligence	C
	-
	-
LVII	K
	-
Wherefore by thy delight in that old tale	K
And plaintive dirges the late robins sing	Q
What time the leaves are scatter'd by the gale	K
Mindful of that old forest burying	Q
As thou dost love to watch each tiny thing	Q
For whom our craft most curiously contrives	C
If thou hast caught a bee upon the wing	Q
To take his honey bag spare us our lives	C
And we will pay the ransom in full hives	C
	-
	-
LVIII	K
	-
Now by my glass quoth Time ye do offend	V
In teaching the brown bees that careful lore	C
And frugal ants whose millions would have end	V
But they lay up for need a timely store	C
And travail with the seasons evermore	C
Whereas Great Mammoth long hath pass'd away	E
And none but I can tell what hide he wore	C
Whilst purblind men the creatures of a day	E
In riddling wonder his great bones survey	E
	-
	-
LIX	C
	-
Then came an elf right beauteous to behold	V
Whose coat was like a brooklet that the sun	B2
Hath all embroider'd with its crooked gold	V
It was so quaintly wrought and overrun	B2
With spangled traceries most meet for one	B2
That was a warden of the pearly streams	C
And as he stept out of the shadows dun	B2
His jewels sparkled in the pale moon's gleams	C
And shot into the air their pointed beams	C
	-
	-
LX	C
	-
Quoth he We bear the gold and silver keys	C
Of bubbling springs and fountains that below	K
Course thro' the veiny earth which when they freeze	C
Into hard crysolites we bid to flow	K
Creeping like subtle snakes when as they go	K
We guide their windings to melodious falls	C
At whose soft murmurings so sweet and low	K
Poets have tuned their smoothest madrigals	C
To sing to ladies in their banquet halls	C
	-
	-
LXI	C
	-
And when the hot sun with his steadfast heat	V
Parches the river god whose dusty urn	B2
Drips miserly till soon his crystal feet	V
Against his pebbly floor wax faint and burn	B2
And languid fish unpoised grow sick and yearn	B2
Then scoop we hollows in some sandy nook	Q
And little channels dig wherein we turn	B2
The thread worn rivulet that all forsook	Q
The Naiad lily pining for her brook	Q
	-
	-
LXII	C
	-
Wherefore by thy delight in cool green meads	C
With living sapphires daintily inlaid	V
In all soft songs of waters and their reeds	C
And all reflections in a streamlet made	V
Haply of thy own love that disarray'd	V
Kills the fair lily with a livelier white	V
By silver trouts upspringing from green shade	V
And winking stars reduplicate at night	V
Spare us poor ministers to such delight	V
	-
	-
LXIII	C
	-
Howbeit his pleading and his gentle looks	C
Moved not the spiteful Shade Quoth he Your taste	V
Shoots wide of mine for I despise the brooks	C
And slavish rivulets that run to waste	V
In noontide sweats or like poor vassals haste	V
To swell the vast dominion of the sea	C
In whose great presence I am held disgraced	V
And neighbor'd with a king that rivals me	C
In ancient might and hoary majesty	C
	-
	-
LXIV	E
	-
Whereas I ruled in Chaos and still keep	X
The awful secrets of that ancient dearth	L2
Before the briny fountains of the deep	X
Brimm'd up the hollow cavities of earth	L2
I saw each trickling Sea God at his birth	L2
Each pearly Naiad with her oozy locks	C
And infant Titans of enormous girth	L2
Whose huge young feet yet stumbled on the rocks	C
Stunning the early world with frequent shocks	C
	-
	-
LXV	E
	-
Where now is Titan with his cumbrous brood	V
That scared the world By this sharp scythe they fell	K
And half the sky was curdled with their blood	V
So have all primal giants sigh'd farewell	K
No wardens now by sedgy fountains dwell	K
Nor pearly Naiads All their days are done	B2
That strove with Time untimely to excel	K
Wherefore I razed their progenies and none	B2
But my great shadow intercepts the sun	B2
	-
	-
LXVI	E
	-
Then saith the timid Fay Oh mighty Time	D
Well hast thou wrought the cruel Titans' fall	K
For they were stain'd with many a bloody crime	D
Great giants work great wrongs but we are small	K
For love goes lowly but Oppression's tall	K
And with surpassing strides goes foremost still	K
Where love indeed can hardly reach at all	K
Like a poor dwarf o'erburthen'd with good will	K
That labors to efface the tracks of ill	K
	-
	-
LXVII	E
	-
Man even strives with Man but we eschew	K
The guilty feud and all fierce strifes abhor	C
Nay we are gentle as the sweet heaven's dew	K
Beside the red and horrid drops of war	C
Weeping the cruel hates men battle for	C
Which worldly bosoms nourish in our spite	V
For in the gentle breast we ne'er withdraw	C
But only when all love hath taken flight	V
And youth's warm gracious heart is hardened quite	V
	-
	-
LXVIII	E
	-
So are our gentle natures intertwined	V
With sweet humanities and closely knit	V
In kindly sympathy with human kind	V
Witness how we befriend with elfin wit	V
All hopeless maids and lovers nor omit	V
Magical succors unto hearts forlorn	B2
We charm man's life and do not perish it	V
So judge us by the helps we showed this morn	B2
To one who held his wretched days in scorn	B2
	-
	-
LXIX	C
	-
'Twas nigh sweet Amwell for the Queen had task'd	V
Our skill to day amidst the silver Lea	C
Whereon the noontide sun had not yet bask'd	V
Wherefore some patient man we thought to see	C
Planted in moss grown rushes to the knee	C
Beside the cloudy margin cold and dim	D
Howbeit no patient fisherman was he	C
That cast his sudden shadow from the brim	D
Making us leave our toils to gaze on him	D
	-
	-
LXX	C
	-
His face was ashy pale and leaden care	C
Had sunk the levell'd arches of his brow	K
Once bridges for his joyous thoughts to fare	C
Over those melancholy springs and slow	K
That from his piteous eyes began to flow	K
And fell anon into the chilly stream	D
Which as his mimick'd image show'd below	K
Wrinkled his face with many a needless seam	D
Making grief sadder in its own esteem	D
	-
	-
LXXI	C
	-
And lo upon the air we saw him stretch	M2
His passionate arms and in a wayward strain	B2
He 'gan to elegize that fellow wretch	M2
That with mute gestures answer'd him again	B2
Saying 'Poor slave how long wilt thou remain	B2
Life's sad weak captive in a prison strong	Q
Hoping with tears to rust away thy chain	B2
In bitter servitude to worldly wrong	Q
Thou wear'st that mortal livery too long '	-
	-
	-
LXXII	C
	-
This with more spleenful speeches and some tears	C
When he had spent upon the imaged wave	E
Speedily I convened my elfin peers	C
Under the lily cups that we might save	E
This woeful mortal from a wilful grave	E
By shrewd diversions of his mind's regret	V
Seeing he was mere Melancholy's slave	E
That sank wherever a dark cloud he met	V
And straight was tangled in her secret net	V
	-
	-
LXXIII	C
	-
Therefore as still he watch'd the water's flow	K
Daintily we transform'd and with bright fins	C
Came glancing through the gloom some from below	K
Rose like dim fancies when a dream begins	C
Snatching the light upon their purple skins	C
Then under the broad leaves made slow retire	C
One like a golden galley bravely wins	C
Its radiant course another glows like fire	C
Making that wayward man our pranks admire	C
	-
	-
LXXIV	E
	-
And so he banish'd thought and quite forgot	V
All contemplation of that wretched face	C
And so we wiled him from that lonely spot	V
Along the river's brink till by heaven's grace	C
He met a gentle haunter of the place	C
Full of sweet wisdom gather'd from the brooks	C
Who there discuss'd his melancholy case	C
With wholesome texts learned from kind nature's books	C
Meanwhile he newly trimm'd his lines and hooks	C
	-
	-
LXXV	E
	-
Herewith the Fairy ceased Quoth Ariel now	K
Let me remember how I saved a man	B2
Whose fatal noose was fastened on a bough	K
Intended to abridge his sad life's span	B2
For haply I was by when he began	B2
His stern soliloquy in life dispraise	C
And overheard his melancholy plan	B2
How he had made a vow to end his days	C
And therefore follow'd him in all his ways	C
	-
	-
LXXVI	E
	-
Through brake and tangled copse for much he loathed	V
All populous haunts and roam'd in forests rude	V
To hide himself from man But I had clothed	V
My delicate limbs with plumes and still pursued	V
Where only foxes and wild cats intrude	V
Till we were come beside an ancient tree	C
Late blasted by a storm Here he renew'd	V
His loud complaints choosing that spot to be	C
The scene of his last horrid tragedy	C
	-
	-
LXXVII	E
	-
It was a wild and melancholy glen	B2
Made gloomy by tall firs and cypress dark	Q
Whose roots like any bones of buried men	B2
Push'd through the rotten sod for fear's remark	Q
A hundred horrid stems jagged and stark	Q
Wrestled with crooked arms in hideous fray	E
Besides sleek ashes with their dappled bark	Q
Like crafty serpents climbing for a prey	E
With many blasted oaks moss grown and gray	E
	-
	-
LXXVIII	E
	-
But here upon his final desperate clause	C
Suddenly I pronounced so sweet a strain	B2
Like a pang'd nightingale it made him pause	C
Till half the frenzy of his grief was slain	B2
The sad remainder oozing from his brain	B2
In timely ecstasies of healing tears	C
Which through his ardent eyes began to drain	B2
Meanwhile the deadly Fates unclosed their shears	C
So pity me and all my fated peers	C
	-
	-
LXXIX	C
	-
Thus Ariel ended and was some time hush'd	V
When with the hoary shape a fresh tongue pleads	C
And red as rose the gentle Fairy blush'd	V
To read the records of her own good deeds	C
It chanced quoth she in seeking through the meads	C
For honied cowslips sweetest in the morn	B2
Whilst yet the buds were hung with dewy beads	C
And Echo answered to the huntsman's horn	B2
We found a babe left in the swaths forlorn	B2
	-
	-
LXXX	C
	-
A little sorrowful deserted thing	Q
Begot of love and yet no love begetting	Q
Guiltless of shame and yet for shame to wring	Q
And too soon banish'd from a mother's petting	Q
To churlish nurture and the wide world's fretting	Q
For alien pity and unnatural care	C
Alas to see how the cold dew kept wetting	Q
His childish coats and dabbled all his hair	C
Like gossamers across his forehead fair	C
	-
	-
LXXXI	C
	-
His pretty pouting mouth witless of speech	M2
Lay half way open like a rose lipp'd shell	K
And his young cheek was softer than a peach	M2
Whereon his tears for roundness could not dwell	K
But quickly roll'd themselves to pearls and fell	K
Some on the grass and some against his hand	V
Or haply wander'd to the dimpled well	K
Which love beside his mouth had sweetly plann'd	V
Yet not for tears but mirth and smilings bland	V
	-
	-
LXXXII	C
	-
Pity it was to see those frequent tears	C
Falling regardless from his friendless eyes	C
There was such beauty in those twin blue spheres	C
As any mother's heart might leap to prize	C
Blue were they like the zenith of the skies	C
Softened betwixt two clouds both clear and mild	V
Just touched with thought and yet not over wise	C
They show'd the gentle spirit of a child	V
Not yet by care or any craft defiled	V
	-
	-
LXXXIII	C
	-
Pity it was to see the ardent sun	B2
Scorching his helpless limbs it shone so warm	D
For kindly shade or shelter he had none	B2
Nor mother's gentle breast come fair or storm	D
Meanwhile I bade my pitying mates transform	D
Like grasshoppers and then with shrilly cries	C
All round the infant noisily we swarm	D
Haply some passing rustic to advise	C
Whilst providential Heaven our care espies	C
	-
	-
LXXXIV	E
	-
And sends full soon a tender hearted hind	V
Who wond'ring at our loud unusual note	V
Strays curiously aside and so doth find	V
The orphan child laid in the grass remote	V
And laps the foundling in his russet coat	V
Who thence was nurtured in his kindly cot	V
But how he prosper'd let proud London quote	V
How wise how rich and how renown'd he got	V
And chief of all her citizens I wot	V
	-
	-
LXXXV	E
	-
Witness his goodly vessels on the Thames	C
Whose holds were fraught with costly merchandise	C
Jewels from Ind and pearls for courtly dames	C
And gorgeous silks that Samarcand supplies	C
Witness that Royal Bourse he bade arise	C
The mart of merchants from the East and West	V
Whose slender summit pointing to the skies	C
Still bears in token of his grateful breast	V
The tender grasshopper his chosen crest	V
	-
	-
LXXXVI	E
	-
The tender grasshopper his chosen crest	V
That all the summer with a tuneful wing	Q
Makes merry chirpings in its grassy nest	V
Inspirited with dew to leap and sing	Q
So let us also live eternal King	Q
Partakers of the green and pleasant earth	L2
Pity it is to slay the meanest thing	Q
That like a mote shines in the smile of mirth	L2
Enough there is of joy's decrease and dearth	L2
	-
	-
LXXXVII	E
	-
Enough of pleasure and delight and beauty	V
Perish'd and gone and hasting to decay	E
Enough to sadden even thee whose duty	V
Or spite it is to havoc and to slay	E
Too many a lovely race razed quite away	E
Hath left large gaps in life and human loving	Q
Here then begin thy cruel war to stay	E
And spare fresh sighs and tears and groans reproving	Q
Thy desolating hand for our removing	Q
	-
	-
LXXXVIII	E
	-
Now here I heard a shrill and sudden cry	K
And looking up I saw the antic Puck	Q
Grappling with Time who clutch'd him like a fly	K
Victim of his own sport the jester's luck	Q
He whilst his fellows grieved poor wight had stuck	Q
His freakish gauds upon the Ancient's brow	K
And now his ear and now his beard would pluck	Q
Whereas the angry churl had snatched him now	K
Crying Thou impish mischief who art thou	K
	-
	-
LXXXIX	C
	-
Alas quoth Puck a little random elf	E
Born in the sport of nature like a weed	V
For simple sweet enjoyment of myself	E
But for no other purpose worth or need	V
And yet withal of a most happy breed	V
And there is Robin Goodfellow besides	C
My partner dear in many a prankish deed	V
To make dame Laughter hold her jolly sides	C
Like merry mummers twain on holy tides	C
	-
	-
XC	Q
	-
'Tis we that bob the angler's idle cork	Q
Till e'en the patient man breathes half a curse	C
We steal the morsel from the gossip's fork	Q
And curdling looks with secret straws disperse	C
Or stop the sneezing chanter at mid verse	C
And when an infant's beauty prospers ill	K
We change some mothers say the child at nurse	C
But any graver purpose to fulfil	K
We have not wit enough and scarce the will	K
	-
	-
XCI	C
	-
We never let the canker melancholy	K
To gather on our faces like a rust	V
But glass our features with some change of folly	K
Taking life's fabled miseries on trust	V
But only sorrowing when sorrow must	V
We ruminate no sage's solemn cud	V
But own ourselves a pinch of lively dust	V
To frisk upon a wind whereas the flood	V
Of tears would turn us into heavy mud	V
	-
	-
XCII	C
	-
Beshrew those sad interpreters of nature	C
Who gloze her lively universal law	K
As if she had not form'd our cheerful feature	C
To be so tickled with the slightest straw	K
So let them vex their mumbling mouths and draw	K
The corners downward like a wat'ry moon	B2
And deal in gusty sighs and rainy flaw	K
We will not woo foul weather all too soon	B2
Or nurse November on the lap of June	B2
	-
	-
XCIII	C
	-
For ours are winging sprites like any bird	V
That shun all stagnant settlements of grief	E
And even in our rest our hearts are stirr'd	V
Like insects settled on a dancing leaf	E
This is our small philosophy in brief	E
Which thus to teach hath set me all agape	N2
But dost thou relish it O hoary chief	E
Unclasp thy crooked fingers from my nape	N2
And I will show thee many a pleasant scrape	N2
	-
	-
XCIV	E
	-
Then Saturn thus shaking his crooked blade	V
O'erhead which made aloft a lightning flash	M2
In all the fairies' eyes dismally fray'd	V
His ensuing voice came like the thunder crash	M2
Meanwhile the bolt shatters some pine or ash	M2
Thou feeble wanton foolish fickle thing	Q
Whom nought can frighten sadden or abash	M2
To hope my solemn countenance to wring	Q
To idiot smiles but I will prune thy wing	Q
	-
	-
XCV	E
	-
Lo this most awful handle of my scythe	O2
Stood once a May pole with a flowery crown	B2
Which rustics danced around and maidens blithe	P2
To wanton pipings but I pluck'd it down	B2
And robed the May Queen in a churchyard gown	B2
Turning her buds to rosemary and rue	K
And all their merry minstrelsy did drown	B2
And laid each lusty leaper in the dew	K
So thou shalt fare and every jovial crew	K
	-
	-
XCVI	E
	-
Here he lets go the struggling imp to clutch	M2
His mortal engine with each grisly hand	V
Which frights the elfin progeny so much	M2
They huddle in a heap and trembling stand	V
All round Titania like the queen bee's band	V
With sighs and tears and very shrieks of woe	K
Meanwhile some moving argument I plann'd	V
To make the stern Shade merciful when lo	K
He drops his fatal scythe without a blow	K
	-
	-
XCVII	E
	-
For just at need a timely Apparition	B2
Steps in between to bear the awful brunt	V
Making him change his horrible position	B2
To marvel at this comer brave and blunt	V
That dares Time's irresistible affront	V
Whose strokes have scarr'd even the gods of old	V
Whereas this seem'd a mortal at mere hunt	V
For coneys lighted by the moonshine cold	V
Or stalker of stray deer stealthy and bold	V
	-
	-
XCVIII	E
	-
Who turning to the small assembled fays	C
Doffs to the lily queen his courteous cap	N2
And holds her beauty for a while in gaze	C
With bright eyes kindling at this pleasant hap	N2
And thence upon the fair moon's silver map	N2
As if in question of this magic chance	C
Laid like a dream upon the green earth's lap	N2
And then upon old Saturn turns askance	C
Exclaiming with a glad and kindly glance	C
	-
	-
XCIX	C
	-
Oh these be Fancy's revelers by night	V
Stealthy companions of the downy moth	Q2
Diana's motes that flit in her pale light	V
Shunners of sunbeams in diurnal sloth	R2
These be the feasters on night's silver cloth	Q2
The gnat with shrilly trump is their convener	K
Forth from their flowery chambers nothing loth	S2
With lulling tunes to charm the air serener	K
Or dance upon the grass to make it greener	K
	-
	-
C	K
	-
These be the pretty genii of the flow'rs	C
Daintily fed with honey and pure dew	K
Midsummer's phantoms in her dreaming hours	C
King Oberon and all his merry crew	K
The darling puppets of romance's view	K
Fairies and sprites and goblin elves we call them	D
Famous for patronage of lovers true	K
No harm they act neither shall harm befall them	D
So do not thus with crabbed frowns appal them	D
	-
	-
CI	C
	-
O what a cry was Saturn's then it made	V
The fairies quake What care I for their pranks	C
However they may lovers choose to aid	V
Or dance their roundelays on flow'ry banks	C
Long must they dance before they earn my thanks	C
So step aside to some far safer spot	V
Whilst with my hungry scythe I mow their ranks	C
And leave them in the sun like weeds to rot	V
And with the next day's sun to be forgot	V
	-
	-
CII	C
	-
Anon he raised afresh his weapon keen	B2
But still the gracious Shade disarm'd his aim	D
Stepping with brave alacrity between	B2
And made his sore arm powerless and tame	D
His be perpetual glory for the shame	D
Of hoary Saturn in that grand defeat	V
But I must tell how here Titania came	D
With all her kneeling lieges to entreat	V
His kindly succor in sad tones but sweet	V
	-
	-
CIII	C
	-
Saying Thou seest a wretched queen before thee	K
The fading power of a failing land	V
Who for a kingdom kneeleth to implore thee	K
Now menaced by this tyrant's spoiling hand	V
No one but thee can hopefully withstand	V
That crooked blade he longeth so to lift	V
I pray thee blind him with his own vile sand	V
Which only times all ruins by its drift	V
Or prune his eagle wings that are so swift	V
	-
	-
CIV	K
	-
Or take him by that sole and grizzled tuft	V
That hangs upon his bald and barren crown	B2
And we will sing to see him so rebuff'd	V
And lend our little mights to pull him down	B2
And make brave sport of his malicious frown	B2
For all his boastful mockery o'er men	B2
For thou wast born I know for this renown	B2
By my most magical and inward ken	B2
That readeth ev'n at Fate's forestalling pen	B2
	-
	-
CV	K
	-
Nay by the golden lustre of thine eye	K
And by thy brow's most fair and ample span	B2
Thought's glorious palace framed for fancies high	K
And by thy cheek thus passionately wan	B2
I know the signs of an immortal man	B2
Nature's chief darling and illustrious mate	V
Destined to foil old Death's oblivious plan	B2
And shine untarnish'd by the fogs of Fate	V
Time's famous rival till the final date	V
	-
	-
CVI	K
	-
O shield us then from this usurping Time	D
And we will visit thee in moonlight dreams	C
And teach thee tunes to wed unto thy rhyme	D
And dance about thee in all midnight gleams	C
Giving thee glimpses of our magic schemes	C
Such as no mortal's eye hath ever seen	B2
And for thy love to us in our extremes	C
Will ever keep thy chaplet fresh and green	B2
Such as no poet's wreath hath ever been	B2
	-
	-
CVII	K
	-
And we'll distil thee aromatic dews	C
To charm thy sense when there shall be no flow'rs	C
And flavor'd syrups in thy drinks infuse	C
And teach the nightingale to haunt thy bow'rs	C
And with our games divert thy weariest hours	C
With all that elfin wits can e'er devise	C
And this churl dead there'll be no hasting hours	C
To rob thee of thy joys as now joy flies	C
Here she was stopp'd by Saturn's furious cries	C
	-
	-
CVIII	K
	-
Whom therefore the kind Shade rebukes anew	K
Saying Thou haggard Sin go forth and scoop	N2
Thy hollow coffin in some churchyard yew	K
Or make th' autumnal flow'rs turn pale and droop	N2
Or fell the bearded corn till gleaners stoop	N2
Under fat sheaves or blast the piny grove	K
But here thou shall not harm this pretty group	N2
Whose lives are not so frail and feebly wove	K
But leased on Nature's loveliness and love	K
	-
	-
CIX	C
	-
'Tis these that free the small entangled fly	K
Caught in the venom'd spider's crafty snare	K
These be the petty surgeons that apply	K
The healing balsams to the wounded hare	K
Bedded in bloody fern no creature's care	K
These be providers for the orphan brood	V
Whose tender mother hath been slain in air	K
Quitting with gaping bill her darling's food	V
Hard by the verge of her domestic wood	V
	-
	-
CX	C
	-
'Tis these befriend the timid trembling stag	Q
When with a bursting heart beset with fears	C
He feels his saving speed begin to flag	Q
For then they quench the fatal taint with tears	C
And prompt fresh shifts in his alarum'd ears	C
So piteously they view all bloody morts	C
Or if the gunner with his arms appears	C
Like noisy pyes and jays with harsh reports	C
They warn the wild fowl of his deadly sports	C
	-
	-
CXI	C
	-
For these are kindly ministers of nature	K
To soothe all covert hurts and dumb distress	C
Pretty they be and very small of stature	K
For mercy still consorts with littleness	C
Wherefore the sum of good is still the less	C
And mischief grossest in this world of wrong	Q
So do these charitable dwarfs redress	C
The tenfold ravages of giants strong	Q
To whom great malice and great might belong	Q
	-
	-
CXII	C
	-
Likewise to them are Poets much beholden	B2
For secret favors in the midnight glooms	C
Brave Spenser quaff'd out of their goblets golden	B2
And saw their tables spread of prompt mushrooms	C
And heard their horns of honeysuckle blooms	C
Sounding upon the air most soothing soft	V
Like humming bees busy about the brooms	C
And glanced this fair queen's witchery full oft	V
And in her magic wain soar'd far aloft	V
	-
	-
CXIII	C
	-
Nay I myself though mortal once was nursed	V
By fairy gossips friendly at my birth	L2
And in my childish ear glib Mab rehearsed	V
Her breezy travels round our planet's girth	L2
Telling me wonders of the moon and earth	L2
My gramarye at her grave lap I conn'd	V
Where Puck hath been convened to make me mirth	L2
I have had from Queen Titania tokens fond	V
And toy'd with Oberon's permitted wand	V
	-
	-
CXIV	K
	-
With figs and plums and Persian dates they fed me	K
And delicate cates after my sunset meal	K
And took me by my childish hand and led me	K
By craggy rocks crested with keeps of steel	K
Whose awful bases deep dark woods conceal	K
Staining some dead lake with their verdant dyes	C
And when the West sparkled at Phoebus' wheel	K
With fairy euphrasy they purged mine eyes	C
To let me see their cities in the skies	C
	-
	-
CXV	K
	-
'Twas they first school'd my young imagination	B2
To take its flights like any new fledged bird	V
And show'd the span of winged meditation	B2
Stretch'd wider than things grossly seen or heard	V
With sweet swift Ariel how I soar'd and stirr'd	V
The fragrant blooms of spiritual bow'rs	C
'Twas they endear'd what I have still preferr'd	V
Nature's blest attributes and balmy pow'rs	C
Her hills and vales and brooks sweet birds and flow'rs	C
	-
	-
CXVI	K
	-
Wherefore with all true loyalty and duty	K
Will I regard them in my honoring rhyme	D
With love for love and homages to beauty	K
And magic thoughts gather'd in night's cool clime	D
With studious verse trancing the dragon Time	D
Strong as old Merlin's necromantic spells	C
So these dear monarchs of the summer's prime	D
Shall live unstartled by his dreadful yells	C
Till shrill larks warn them to their flowery cells	C
	-
	-
CXVII	K
	-
Look how a poison'd man turns livid black	Q
Drugg'd with a cup of deadly hellebore	K
That sets his horrid features all at rack	Q
So seem'd these words into the ear to pour	K
Of ghastly Saturn answering with a roar	K
Of mortal pain and spite and utmost rage	T2
Wherewith his grisly arm he raised once more	K
And bade the cluster'd sinews all engage	T2
As if at one fell stroke to wreck an age	T2
	-
	-
CXVIII	K
	-
Whereas the blade flash'd on the dinted ground	V
Down through his steadfast foe yet made no scar	K
On that immortal Shade or death like wound	V
But Time was long benumb'd and stood ajar	K
And then with baffled rage took flight afar	K
To weep his hurt in some Cimmerian gloom	D
Or meaner fames like mine to mock and mar	K
Or sharp his scythe for royal strokes of doom	D
Whetting its edge on some old C sar's tomb	D
	-
	-
CXIX	C
	-
Howbeit he vanish'd in the forest shade	V
Distantly heard as if some grumbling pard	V
And like Nymph Echo to a sound decay'd	V
Meanwhile the fays cluster'd the gracious Bard	V
The darling centre of their dear regard	V
Besides of sundry dances on the green	B2
Never was mortal man so brightly starr'd	V
Or won such pretty homages I ween	B2
Nod to him Elves cries the melodious queen	B2
	-
	-
CXX	C
	-
Nod to him Elves and flutter round about him	D
And quite enclose him with your pretty crowd	V
And touch him lovingly for that without him	D
The silkworm now had spun our dreary shroud	V
But he hath all dispersed Death's tearful cloud	V
And Time's dread effigy scared quite away	E
Bow to him then as though to me ye bow'd	V
And his dear wishes prosper and obey	E
Wherever love and wit can find a way	E
	-
	-
CXXI	C
	-
'Noint him with fairy dews of magic savors	C
Shaken from orient buds still pearly wet	V
Roses and spicy pinks and of all favors	C
Plant in his walks the purple violet	V
And meadow sweet under the hedges set	V
To mingle breaths with dainty eglantine	B2
And honeysuckles sweet nor yet forget	V
Some pastoral flowery chaplets to entwine	B2
To vie the thoughts about his brow benign	B2
	-
	-
CXXII	C
	-
Let no wild things astonish him or fear him	D
But tell them all how mild he is of heart	V
Till e'en the timid hares go frankly near him	D
And eke the dappled does yet never start	V
Nor shall their fawns into the thickets dart	V
Nor wrens forsake their nests among the leaves	C
Nor speckled thrushes flutter far apart	V
But bid the sacred swallow haunt his eaves	C
To guard his roof from lightning and from thieves	C
	-
	-
CXXIII	C
	-
Or when he goes the nimble squirrel's visitor	K
Let the brown hermit bring his hoarded nuts	C
For tell him this is Nature's kind Inquisitor	K
Though man keeps cautious doors that conscience shuts	C
For conscious wrong all curious quest rebuts	C
Nor yet shall bees uncase their jealous stings	C
However he may watch their straw built huts	C
So let him learn the crafts of all small things	C
Which he will hint most aptly when he sings	C
	-
	-
CXXIV	K
	-
Here she leaves off and with a graceful hand	V
Waves thrice three splendid circles round his head	V
Which though deserted by the radiant wand	V
Wears still the glory which her waving shed	V
Such as erst crown'd the old Apostle's head	V
To show the thoughts there harbor'd were divine	B2
And on immortal contemplations fed	V
Goodly it was to see that glory shine	B2
Around a brow so lofty and benign	B2
	-
	-
CXXV	K
	-
Goodly it was to see the elfin brood	V
Contend for kisses of his gentle hand	V
That had their mortal enemy withstood	V
And stay'd their lives fast ebbing with the sand	V
Long while this strife engaged the pretty band	V
But now bold Chanticleer from farm to farm	D
Challenged the dawn creeping o'er eastern land	V
And well the fairies knew that shrill alarm	D
Which sounds the knell of every elfish charm	D
	-
	-
CXXVI	K
	-
And soon the rolling mist that 'gan arise	C
From plashy mead and undiscover'd stream	D
Earth's morning incense to the early skies	C
Crept o'er the failing landscape of my dream	D
Soon faded then the Phantom of my theme	D
A shapeless shade that fancy disavowed	V
And shrank to nothing in the mist extreme	D
Then flew Titania and her little crowd	V
Like flocking linnets vanished in a cloud	V

Thomas Hood

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About The Plea Of The Midsummer Fairies.[1]

The Plea Of The Midsummer Fairies.[1] is a poem by Thomas Hood. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.

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