Page:The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1908.djvu/377

MORGAN Brake and mould

Hoard their marvels manifold.

There the armored beetles creep,

Shrouding in unseemly fear

Each his shield of chrysoprase

Lest its gleam himself betrays

For our kind to seize and keep

Prisoned in a damsel's ear.

Each one stealeth

Dumbly, and his dull way feeleth

Until starlight shall appear.

X

you soft, be mute and wary

Lest you wake the lords of Faery!

Motion rude

Fits not with their solitude:

Else the spider will resent

And the beetle nip you well,

Bête-rouge in your neck will furrow,

Garapata dig his burrow:—

Dread the wasp's swift punishment

And the chegoe's vengeance fell:

Well-defended,

Fairies sleep till day hath ended,—

Leave we Fern-Land and its spell.

MORGAN

, what a set of Vagabundos,

Sons of Neptune, sons of Mars,

Raked from todos otros mundos,

Lascars, Gascons, Portsmouth tars,

Prison mate and dock-yard fellow,

Blades to Meg and Molly dear, 347