Classic Poem

A fairy spirit dwelling in the wood
Allured a youthful wanderer that way;
For her he sighed, as youthful lovers should,
And sought her fond embrace from day to day.

At dawn, before the awakened sun gets up,
Or yet the bee his earliest nectar sips,
He drank elixir from her leafy cup,
And kissed the odors from her fragrant lips.

Oft watched he there, beneath her emerald dome,
And seated on her velvet, mossy seat,
To see the chariot of the morning come,
And flash its golden sunbeams at his feet.

'T was ever new to his most loving eyes
To see the morn unveil her blushing face;
Then take her casket, brought from Orient skies,
And empty all its jewels in the place.

The tears which gentle flowers had wept at night,
(For flowers will weep when with the night alone,)
She changed at once to glowing gems of light,
Purer than diamonds on a monarch's throne.

And freely as the Nymph received she gave;
Her youthful lover came not thence away
Without the gifts which made him strong and brave
To do and bear the burdens of the day.

A jewelled wreath she hung around his brow,
The symbols bright of purity and truth;
And on his neck a charm, which hangs there now,
To give its wearer's heart perpetual youth.

His face still shines with her pure, vestal flame;
Her healthful balsam courses in his blood;
Her strength of oaks is in his manly frame,
And in his heart the love of Nature's God.