CX.

Description, as I've said, is not my forte;
So we'll give o'er describing-Launfal knelt
Some time-he knew not if 'twas long or short-
Beside her, and his heart began to melt
And leap and throb in such tumultuous sort
As he had never, till that moment, felt.
He knew, at once, his dream's mysterious beauty,
And saw that love was now become a duty.

CXI.

And so he fell in love without delay,

And soon, by dint of gazing, grown more bold, Press'd to his lips the fingers of the Fay

A mode of courtship, in such cases, old. It woke her yet the story does not say

That she thought fit to look displeased, or scold; But fix'd her eyes, that seem'd with love to swim, Full on his face, and fondly welcomed him.

CXII.

When will this canto end ?-the situation

Of these two lovers would be quite a prize To any bard who'd time for the narration

Of melting tones, fond looks, and burning sighs. They sat some time, in mutual agitation,

Gazing devoutly on each other's eyes;
And then the Fairy sank on Launfal's breast,
And the whole story of her love confess'd.

CXIII.

She"fear'd that he would think her very bold,

For having dared to love him-she should seem

Indelicate to beings of his mould—

-Women would call her forwardness extremeAnd, she confess'd, her heart was not so cold

As she could wish"-and then a brighter gleam, As she gazed on him, through her fond eyes rush'd— And then she look'd upon the ground and blush'd.

CXIV.

"He had strange power of witch-craft, she was sure, Who thus could charm a hapless Fairy's heartA Fairy's, too, who never could endure

A Faery suitor, and had mock'd the dart

Of Cupid, till she fell into his lure—

-She scarcely dared to hope that he would part With Earth's most radiant Beauties for her sakeShe had few offers for such love to make.

CXV.

"Yet if he would be true to her, and live
Content with her poor beauty, he should be
Endow'd with all that Faery-land could give
Of wealth and power and bliss and dignity;
And she would roam (she hoped he would forgive
Her freedom) at his side o'er land and sea;
And make him still victorious in the fight,
And love him ever truly, day and night."

CXVI.

You may conceive (if you have ever been
Engaged in courtship that resembled this,
Thus basking in young eyes of tenderest sheen

In the full glow of love's acknowledged bliss)— Sir Launfal's answer to the Faery queen;

A A

So that I need not tell you 'twas a kiss"A long, long kiss" in Byron's phrase, which I, On this occasion, deign to ratify.

CXVII.

And when that first and holiest rapture past,

Ere yet their severed lips had ceased to tingle, (Pity such kisses can't for ever last

When love and duty, as in wedlock, mingle)Tryamour-since it's not the thing to fast,

For married people any more than singleSummon'd her Fays and bade them serve in haste A marriage banquet in the fairy taste.

CXVIII.

And when that dainty feast at length was o'er,
The Queen a goblet to her lips did raise,
And pledged Sir Launfal as her spouse, before
The assembled company of Elves and Fays;
And gave him full possession of her store,

And vow'd to love him truly all her days; [sion, He pledg'd the draught, and thus, with mutual pasThe pair were wedded in the Faery fashion.

CXIX.

And here I once intended to describe,

In the sublimest verses I could write, The feasts and frolics of the Elfin tribe

In celebration of that nuptial night; The dance, the song, the gambol, and the gibe, The illuminations, and the bonfires bright; And how the groves were sprinkled with pavilions Of sprites, who came to join the sport by millions.

CXX.

And how, at midnight, the full moon and stars Their brightest beams on those wild revels shed, Gaily careering on their fiery cars,

As if they too were dancing over-head;

And how Jove laugh'd, and Venus wink'd at Mars, And Mars, beneath her glance, turn'd doubly red; And sly old Saturn, from his mystic ring, Appropriate lustre on the scene did fling.

CXXI.

I meant to have described Sir Launfal's sleep,

Dream-haunted, and the sights his inward eye Saw, while his bride a loving watch did keep, Kissing, full oft, his eyelids tenderly,

And giving his wrapt spirit power to peep
Into the secrets of earth, sea, and sky;
All which, for want of room, must be omitted,
Although the tasteful reader's to be pitied.

CXXII.

I'm really quite alarm'd when I survey
The quantity of work that's to be done
In the remaining canto of this lay-
(For I'm resolved to finish it in one,
Whatever Mr. Knight may choose to say)—
Indeed, I half regret that I've begun

An undertaking which, I see, will double
The estimate I'd form'd of ink and trouble.

CXXIII.

Canto the fourth will tell you how the Knight

Return'd in triumph, to the court of Britain ;

And how he was admired by ladies bright,

And how Queen Guenever herself was smitten, And suffer'd, for her crimes, what served her right;

All which, before next April, shall be written : But, for the present, here my toils I close, Leaving the lovers to their late repose.

CONCLUSION.

66

Before next April"!-Thirteen years ago Thus spake I; but or ere that April shone, My fancy's frozen stream had ceased to flow,

My dreaming time of life was past and gone. And now when summer flowers no longer blow, And the near autumn stealthily creeps on, I must not with my primrose wreath of spring Mix scentless buds of later blossoming.

So if there be who would the tale pursue
Of my sweet fairy and my gentle knight,-
(An old quaint tale of passion fond and true,
Which did the taste of simpler days delight)——
Even to the fount from which my fancy drew

Let me such readers, ere we part, invite.
There, unrestricted, let them, if they will,
Of pure and tender beauty quaff their fill.*

*The Romance upon which this poem was founded is contained in the first volume of Ritson's selection.