Page:Poems, now first collected, Stedman, 1897.djvu/196

THE CARIB SEA IV

Here, unseen by grosser light,

Fairy-land, at noon of night

Holidaying,

Sallies forth in fine arraying;

Elfin, sylphide, fay and gnome

On the dew-tipped ferns disport,

In the festooned creepers swing,

Their light plumage fluttering.

Fern-Land is their ancient home,

Here the monarch holds his court,

Puck abideth;

Here the Queen her changeling hideth,

Ariel doth merrily sing.

V

Here, when Dian shuns the sky,

Swift the winged watchmen fly,—

Flash their torches

In and out mimosa porches

Till the first pale glint of morn:

Then the little people change

Casque and doublet, robe and sash,

In the twinkling of a lash, 176