A live spring sparkles in the bosky gloom, Hidden from the noonday glare ; The green reeds bend above its banks and there Blue-bells and violets bloom. No kids that batten on the bitter herb, On slopes of the near hill, Nor shepherd's song, nor flute-note sweet and shrill, Its crystal source disturb. Hard by, the dark oaks weave a peaceful screen Whose shade the wild-bee loves, And nestled in dense leaves the murmuring doves Their ruffled plumage preen. The lazy stags in mossy thickets browse And sniff the lingering dew ; Beneath cool leaves, that let the sunlight through, The languorous Sylvans drowse. White Nai's, near the sacred spring that drips, Closing her lids awhile, Dreams as she slumbers, and a radiant smile Floats on her purple lips. No eye, kindling with love's desire, has scanned Beneath those lucent veils The nymph whose snowy limbs and hair that trails Gleam on the silvery sand. None gazed on the soft cheek, suffused with youth, The splendid bosom's swerve, The ivory neck, the shoulder's delicate curve, White arms and innocent mouth. But now the lecherous Faun, that haunts the grove, Spies from his leafy trench Those supple flanks, kissed by the oozy drench As with a kiss of love ; Then laughs, as when the Satyr's wanton imps A wood-nymph's bower assail, And, waking with the sound the virgin pale Flies like the lightning-glimpse. Even as the Naiad, haunting the clear stream, Slumbers in woods obscure, Fly from the impious look and laugh impure O Beauty, the soul's dream | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE TRANSLATION by MARK VAN DOREN THE BUTTERFLY by MARGARET AVISON SPRING SONG by JEAN ANTOINE DE BAIF WEALTH by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH LYNTON VERSES: 4. LYNTON TO PORLOCK (EXMOOR) by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN THE WANDERER: PROLOGUE. PART 2 by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |