Classic Poem

BY STOTHARD .

W E have been o'er land and sea,
Seeking lovely dreams for thee, —
Where is there we have not been
Gathering gifts for our sweet queen.
We are come with sound and sight
Fit for fairy's sleep to-night: —
First around thy couch shall sweep
Odours, such as roses weep
When the earliest spring rain
Calls them into life again;
Next upon thine ear shall float
Many a low and silver note,
Stolen from a dark-eyed maid,
When her lover's serenade,
Rising as the stars grew dim,
Waken'd her from thoughts of him; —
There shall steal o'er lip and cheek
Gales, but all too light to break
Thy soft rest, — such gales as hide
All day orange-flowers inside,
Or that, while hot noontide, dwell,
In the purple hyacinth bell;
And before thy sleeping eyes
Shall come glorious pageantries, —
Palaces of gems and gold,
Such as dazzle to behold, —
Gardens, in which every tree
Seems a world of bloom to be, —
Fountains, whose clear waters show
The white pearls that lie below. —
During slumber's magic reign
Other times shall live again;
First thou shalt be young and free
In thy days of liberty, —
Then again be woo'd and won
By thy stately O BERON .
Or thou shalt descend to earth,
And see all of mortal birth. —
No, that world's too full of care
For e'en dreams to linger there.
But; behold, the sun is set,
And the diamond coronet
Of the young moon is on high
Waiting for our revelry;
And the dew is on the flower,
And the stars proclaim our hour;
Long enough thy rest has been,
Wake, T ITANIA , wake, our queen!