Page:The Poetical Works of Thomas Parnell (1833).djvu/159

Rh Then Will, who bears the wispy fire To trail the swains among the mire,
 * The caitive upward flung;

There like a tortoise in a shop He dangled from the chamber-top,
 * Where whilome Edwin hung.

The revel now proceeds apace, Deffly they frisk it o'er the place,
 * They sit, they drink, and eat;

The time with frolick mirth beguile, And poor Sir Topaz hangs the while
 * Till all the rout retreat.

By this the Starrs began to wink, They shriek, they fly, the tapers sink,
 * And downy drops the knight:

For never spell by faerie laid With strong enchantment bound a glade
 * Beyond the length of night.

Chill, dark, alone, adreed, he lay, Till up the welkin rose the day,
 * Then deem'd the dole was o'er:

But wot ye well his harder lot? His seely back the bunch has got
 * Which Edwin lost afore.

This tale a Sybil-nurse ared; She softly strok'd my youngling head,
 * And when the tale was done,