THE BOAT ON THE SERCHIO
649
Melchior and Lionel were not among those;
They from the throng of men had stepped aside,
And made their home under the green hill-side.
It was that hill, whose intervening brow
Screens Lucca from the Pisan's envious eye, 40
Which the circumfluous plain waving below,
Like a wide lake of green fertility,
With streams and fields and marshes bare,
Divides from the far Apennines—which lie
Islanded in the immeasurable air. 45
They from the throng of men had stepped aside,
And made their home under the green hill-side.
It was that hill, whose intervening brow
Screens Lucca from the Pisan's envious eye, 40
Which the circumfluous plain waving below,
Like a wide lake of green fertility,
With streams and fields and marshes bare,
Divides from the far Apennines—which lie
Islanded in the immeasurable air. 45
'What think you, as she lies in her green cove,
Our little sleeping boat is dreaming of?'
'If morning dreams are true, why I should guess
That she was dreaming of our idleness,
And of the miles of watery way 50
We should have led her by this time of day.'—
Our little sleeping boat is dreaming of?'
'If morning dreams are true, why I should guess
That she was dreaming of our idleness,
And of the miles of watery way 50
We should have led her by this time of day.'—
'Never mind,' said Lionel,
'Give care to the winds, they can bear it well
About yon poplar-tops; and see
The white clouds are driving merrily. 55
And the stars we miss this morn will light
More willingly our return to-night.—
How it whistles, Dominic's long black hair!
List, my dear fellow; the breeze blows fair:
Hear how it sings into the air—' 60
'Give care to the winds, they can bear it well
About yon poplar-tops; and see
The white clouds are driving merrily. 55
And the stars we miss this morn will light
More willingly our return to-night.—
How it whistles, Dominic's long black hair!
List, my dear fellow; the breeze blows fair:
Hear how it sings into the air—' 60
—'Of us and of our lazy motions,'[1]
Impatiently said Melchior,
'If I can guess a boat's emotions;
And how we ought, two hours before,
To have been the devil knows where.' 65
And then, in such transalpine Tuscan
As would have killed a Della-Cruscan,[2]
·······
So, Lionel according to his art
Weaving his idle words, Melchior said:
'She dreams that we are not yet out of bed; 70
We'll put a soul into her, and a heart
Which like a dove chased by a dove shall beat.'
·······
'Ay, heave the ballast overboard,
And stow the eatables in the aft locker.'
'Would not this keg be best a little lowered?' 75
Impatiently said Melchior,
'If I can guess a boat's emotions;
And how we ought, two hours before,
To have been the devil knows where.' 65
And then, in such transalpine Tuscan
As would have killed a Della-Cruscan,[2]
·······
So, Lionel according to his art
Weaving his idle words, Melchior said:
'She dreams that we are not yet out of bed; 70
We'll put a soul into her, and a heart
Which like a dove chased by a dove shall beat.'
·······
'Ay, heave the ballast overboard,
And stow the eatables in the aft locker.'
'Would not this keg be best a little lowered?' 75
- ↑ 58-61
List, my dear fellow, the breeze blows fair;
How it scatters Dominic's long black hair!
Singing of us, and our lazy motions,
It I can guess a boat's emotions.'—edd. 1824, 1839. - ↑ 61-67 Rossetti places these lines conjecturally between ll. 51 and 52. 61-65 'are evidently an alternative version of 48-51' (A. C. Bradley).
