115
THE LADY MARIAN.
Her silken cloak around her thrown,
Lined with the soft brown fur,
So that no wind, howe'er it blew,
Could blow too rough on her.
The lady Marian thus went forth,
To breath the opening day;
Two snow-white ponies drew the chair
That bare her on her way.
A little page upheld the reins,
Who, drest in gold and green,
Might have seem'd fitting charioteer
To her the fairy queen.
The graceful equipage drove on,
And sought the woodland shade;
Where boughs of aspen and of birch
A pleasant shelter made.
A murmur musical and sad
Disturbed the noon-tide rest;
For balanced on each topmost branch
Hung the wood pigeons' nest
But soon amid the parting trees
There came a gladder song;
For, fill'd with music and with light,
A small brook danced along.
The small brook had a cheerful song,
But one more cheerful still,
The song of childhood in its mirth,
Came o'er its sunny rill.
