PART II.

Ask not the Bard to lift the veil That hides the Fairy's bridal bower; If thou art young, go seek the glade, And win thyself some fairy maid; And rosy lips shall tell the tale In some enchanted hour.

"Farewell!" as by the greenwood tree, The Fairy clasp'd the Mortal's hand— "Our laws forbid thee to delay— Not ours the life of every day!— And Man, alas! may rarely be The Guest of Fairy-land.

"Back to thy Prince's halls depart, The stateliest of his stately train: Henceforth thy wish shall be thy mine— Each toy that gold can purchase, thine— A fairy's coffers are the heart A mortal cannot drain."

"Talk not of wealth—that dream is o'er!— These sunny looks be all my gold!" "Nay! if in courts thy thoughts can stray Along the fairy-forest way, Wish but to see thy bride once more— Thy bride thou shalt behold.

"Yet hear the law on which must rest Thy union with thine elfin bride; If ever by a word—a tone— Thou mak'st our tender secret known, The spell will vanish from thy breast— The Fairy from thy side.

"If thou but boast to mortal ear The meanest charm thou find'st in me, If"—here his lips the sweet lips seal, Low-murmuring, "Love can ne'er reveal— It cannot breathe to mortal ear The charms it finds in thee!"