Where into perfect life are brought Yea, in that cheek's transparent hue, Tell me, thou airy, fleeting form, Whose agile step out-wings the storm, When did that volant foot of thine Revisit last the ocean brine? When, underneath the oozy bed, The sea-nymphs' cave of coral tread ? Or on the moon-beam lightly stray, Or stars that pave the milky way? And whither now, thou dainty sprite, Wing'st thou, and whence, thy airy flight? What star, what meteor, gave thee birth? And whence thy mission here on earth? "Whence I am, and where I go, Borne by a daughter of the sky: One blind old man with warmth sublime, And one more near; but gave my sire, To the distant bounds that lie Nor the flooding lustre shun To whose bloom, from many a spray, Wove the bard my spell-wrought dream. Chanting my witch-song merrily; While each woodland, brake, and dell, 'Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong bell,'— Echoes the harp of Ariel. See! I wave my roseate wings! Now my spirit soaring sings, 'Merrily, merrily, shall I live now Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.'' J. KEATS. |