55

60

65

At this the fwain, whofe vent'rous foul
No fears of magic could controul,

Advanc'd in open fight;

"Nor have I caufe of dreed, he faid, "Who view, by no presumption led, "Your revels of the night.

"Twas grief, for scorn of faithful love, "Which made my steps unweeting rove

"Amid the nightly dew."

"Tis well, the gallant crys again, We faeries never injure men

Who dare to tell us true.

Exalt thy love-dejected heart,

Be mine the task, or e'er we part

To make thee grief refign;

Now take the pleasure of thy chaunce;

Whilft I with Mab, my part'ner daunce,

Be little Mable thine.

He spoke, and all a fudden there
Light mufick floats in wanton air;

The monarch leads the queen:

The reft their faerie part'ners found;
And Mable trimly tript the ground

With Edwin of the Green.

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75

The dauncing paft, the board was laid,

And fiker fuch a feaft was made

As heart and lip defire;
Withouten hands the dishes fly,

The glaffes with a wish come nigh,
And with a wish retire.

But, now to please the faerie king,

Full ev'ry deal they laugh and fing,
And antick feats devife;

Some wind and tumble like an ape,

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85

And other-fome tranfmute their shape,
In Edwin's wond'ring eyes.

Till one at last, that Robin hight,
(Renown'd for pinching maids by night)

Has hent him up aloof;

And full against the beam he flung,

Where by the back the youth he hung,

To fpraul unneath the roof.

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95

From thence," Reverse my charm," he crys, "And let it fairly now fuffice

"The gambol has been shown."

But Oberon answers with a fmile,
Content thee Edwin for a while,

The vantage is thine own.

100

Here ended all the phantome-play;

They smelt the fresh approach of day,

And heard a cock to crow;

The whirling wind that bore the crowd
Has clap'd the door, and whistled loud

To warn them all to go.

Then screaming all at once, they fly,
And all at once the tapers dy;

Poor Edwin falls to floor;

Forlorn his state, and dark the place,
Was never wight in fike a case

Through all the land before.

But foon as Dan Apollo rofe,
Full jolly creature home he goes,

He feels his back the lefs;
His honest tongue and steady mind
Had rid him of the lump behind,

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110

115

Which made him want fuccefs.

120

With lufty livelyhed he talks,
He seems a dauncing as he walks,

His ftory foon took wind;

And beauteous Edith fees the youth

Endow'd with courage, sense, and truth, 125 Without a bunch behind.

The ftory told, Sir Topaz mov'd,
(The youth of Edith erst approv'd)

To fee the revel scene:

At close of eve he leaves his home,

130

And wends to find the ruin'd dome
All on the gloomy plain.

As there he bides, it so befell,

The wind came rustling down a dell,

A shaking seiz'd the wall;

135

Up fpring the tapers as before,

The faeries bragly foot the floor,
And mufick fills the hall.

But certes forely funk with woe
Sir Topaz fees the elphin show,

His fpirits in him dy:

When Oberon crys, " A man is near,

"A mortal paffion, cleeped fear,

"Hangs flagging in the sky."

140

With that Sir Topaz (hapless youth!) 145 In accents fault'ring, ay for ruth,

Intreats them pity graunt;

For als he been a mister wight

Betray'd by wand'ring in the night

To tread the circled haunt;

150

"Ah lofell vile, at once they roar; "And little fkill'd of faerie lore,

Thy caufe to come, we know: "Now has thy kestrell courage fell; «And faeries, fince a ly you tell,

"Are free to work thee woe."

Then Will, who bears the wispy fire
To trail the fwains among the mire,
The caitive upward flung;

There, like a tortoise in a shop,
He dangled from the chamber-top,
Where whilome Edwin hung.

The revel now proceeds apace,
Deftly' they frifk it o'er the place,

They fit, they drink, and eat;

The time with frolick mirth beguile,
And poor Sir Topaz hangs the while,

Till all the rout retreat.

By this the ftarrs began to wink,

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160

165.

They shriek, they fly, the tapers fink, 170 And down y-drops the knight:

For never spell by faerie laid

With ftrong enchantment bound a glade

Beyond the length of night.