Page:Singular adventures of Sir Gawen, and the enchanted castle.pdf/16

16 oak, at whose foot, by some kind and compassionate being, he concluded he had been laid. Delight and gratitude dilated his heart and advancing from beneath the tree, whose gigantic branches spread a large extent of shade, a vale, beautiful and romantic, thro' which ran a clear and deep stream, came full in view. he walked to the edge of the water the moon shone with mellow lustre on its surface, and its banks fringed with shrubs, breathed a perfume more delicate than the odors of the east On one side the ground covered with a vivid, soft and downy verdure, stretched for a considerable extent to the borders of a large forest which sweeping round finally closed up the valley; on the other it was broken into abrupt and rocky masses swarded with moss, and from whose clefts grew thick & spreading trees, the roots of which, washed by many a fall of water, hung bare & matted from their craggy beds.

Sir Gawen forgot in this delicious vale, all his former sufferings, and giving up his mind to the pleasing influence of curiosity & wonder he determined to explore the place by tracing the windings of the stream. Scarce had he entered upon this plan when music of the most ravishing sweetness filled the air sometimes it seemed to float along the valley, sometimes it stole along the surface of the water now it died away among the