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THE FEAST OF VIOLETS.
103
As backward his car in the deep began sinking;
And round it, the Water-Nymphs, with their eyes winking,
Plash'd, patting the horses, and loos'ning the reins,
While the lute through the lustre sent flooding its strains,
When lo! he saw coming towards him, in pairs,
Such doves of Petitions, and loves of sweet Pray'rs,
All landing, as each touch'd his chariot, in sighs,
And begging his aid in behalf of bright eyes,
That it made him look sharper, to see whence they came:—
The windows on earth, at the flash of that aim,
Burst suddenly all into diamonds and flame.
And round it, the Water-Nymphs, with their eyes winking,
Plash'd, patting the horses, and loos'ning the reins,
While the lute through the lustre sent flooding its strains,
When lo! he saw coming towards him, in pairs,
Such doves of Petitions, and loves of sweet Pray'rs,
All landing, as each touch'd his chariot, in sighs,
And begging his aid in behalf of bright eyes,
That it made him look sharper, to see whence they came:—
The windows on earth, at the flash of that aim,
Burst suddenly all into diamonds and flame.
"By Jove!" said Apollo, "well thought on.—I've dined
With the Poets:—'tis now highly proper, I find,
To descend (and with finger-tips here he fell trimming
His love-locks celestial) and sup with the Women."
With the Poets:—'tis now highly proper, I find,
To descend (and with finger-tips here he fell trimming
His love-locks celestial) and sup with the Women."
He said; and some messages giving those daughters
Of Ocean,—arch-eyed,—buxom dancers in waters,—
They gave him some answer (I never heard what)
Which they paid for, i'faith, with a dance on the spot;
For shaking his locks, and a pleasant frown casting,
He thrust his car back with his foot everlasting,
And sprang up in air with a bound so divine,
As sous'd their sweet souls in the roar of the brine.
Then laughing the laugh of the gods, he rose higher,
And higher, and higher, on the whirl of his fire,
Lark mighty; till choosing his road, like the dove
Which bears at its warm bosom letters of love,
He shot, all at once, in a long trail of light,
Like the star that comes liquidly through the soft night,
And stood in a "House to Let," facing Hyde Park,
"Unfurnish'd;"—but not so, ye gods, before dark!
Of Ocean,—arch-eyed,—buxom dancers in waters,—
They gave him some answer (I never heard what)
Which they paid for, i'faith, with a dance on the spot;
For shaking his locks, and a pleasant frown casting,
He thrust his car back with his foot everlasting,
And sprang up in air with a bound so divine,
As sous'd their sweet souls in the roar of the brine.
Then laughing the laugh of the gods, he rose higher,
And higher, and higher, on the whirl of his fire,
Lark mighty; till choosing his road, like the dove
Which bears at its warm bosom letters of love,
He shot, all at once, in a long trail of light,
Like the star that comes liquidly through the soft night,
And stood in a "House to Let," facing Hyde Park,
"Unfurnish'd;"—but not so, ye gods, before dark!
