The lady of the lake . le deer — 54 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Like that same hermits, thin and spare,The copse must give my evening fare;Some mossy bank my couch must be,Some rustling oak my pass we that; the war and chaseGive little choice of resting-place; —A summer night in greenwood spentWere but to-morrows merriment:But hosts may in these wilds abound,Such as are better missed than found;To meet with Highland plunderers hereWere worse than loss of steed or deer. —I am alone ; — my bugle-strainMay call some straggler of the train;Or, fall the worse that may betide,Ere now this falch
The lady of the lake . le deer — 54 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Like that same hermits, thin and spare,The copse must give my evening fare;Some mossy bank my couch must be,Some rustling oak my pass we that; the war and chaseGive little choice of resting-place; —A summer night in greenwood spentWere but to-morrows merriment:But hosts may in these wilds abound,Such as are better missed than found;To meet with Highland plunderers hereWere worse than loss of steed or deer. —I am alone ; — my bugle-strainMay call some straggler of the train;Or, fall the worse that may betide,Ere now this falchion has been tried. XVII. But scarce again his horn he wound, When lo ! forth starting at the sound, Prom underneath an aged oak That slanted from the islet rock, A damsel guider of its way, A little skiff shot to the bay, That round the promontory steep Led its deep line in graceful sweep, Eddying, in almost viewless wave, The weeping willow twig to lave, And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, THE CHASE. 55. The beach of pebbles bright as boat had touched this silver strandJust as the Hunter left his stand, 56 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. And stood concealed amid the brake, To view this Lady of the Lake. The maiden paused, as if again She thought to catch the distant strain. With head upraised, and look intent, And eye and ear attentive bent, And locks flung back, and lips apart, Like monument of Grecian art, In listening mood, she seemed to stand, The guardian Naiad of the strand. XVIII. And neer did Grecian chisel trace A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace, Of finer form or lovelier face ! What though the sun, with ardent frown, Had slightly tinged her cheek with brown, — The sportive toil, which, short and light, Had dyed her glowing hue so bright, Served too in hastier swell to show Short glimpses of a breast of snow : What though no rule of courtly grace To measured mood had trained her pace, — A foot more light, a step more true, Neer from the heath-flower dashe
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidladyoflak00s, bookyear1894
