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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Two Swans (A Fairy Tale)</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">I</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">Immortal Imogen, crown'd queen above <br>The lilies of thy sex, vouchsafe to hear <br>A fairy dream in honor of true love— <br>True above ills, and frailty, and all fear,— <br>Perchance a shadow of his own career <br>Whose youth was darkly prison'd and long-twined <br>By serpent-sorrow, till white Love drew near, <br>And sweetly sang him free, and round his mind <br>A bright horizon threw, wherein no grief may wind. </a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>II</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">I saw a tower builded on a lake, <br>Mock'd by its inverse shadow, dark and deep— <br>That seem'd a still intenser night to make, <br>Wherein the quiet waters sank to sleep,— <br>And, whatso'er was prison'd in that keep, <br>A monstrous Snake was warden:—round and round <br>In sable ringlets I beheld him creep <br>Blackest amid black shadows to the ground, <br>Whilst his enormous head, the topmost turret crown'd.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>III</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">From whence he shot fierce light against the stars, <br>Making the pale moon paler with affright; <br>And with his ruby eye out-threaten'd Mars— <br>That blaz'd in the mid-heavens, hot and bright— <br>Nor slept, nor wink'd, but with a steadfast spite <br>Watch'd their wan looks and tremblings in the skies; <br>And that he might not slumber in the night, <br>The curtain-lids were pluck'd from his large eyes, <br>So he might never drowse, but watch his secret prize.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>IV</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">Prince or princess in dismal durance pent, <br>Victims of old Enchantment's love or hate, <br>Their lives must all in painful sighs be spent, <br>Watching the lonely waters soon and late, <br>And clouds that pass and leave them to their fate, <br>Or company their grief with heavy tears:— <br>Meanwhile that Hope can spy no golden gate <br>For sweet escapement, but in darksome fears <br>They weep and pine away as if immortal years.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>V</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">No gentle bird with gold upon its wing <br>Will perch upon the grate—the gentle bird <br>Is safe in leafy dell, and will not bring <br>Freedom's sweet key-note and commission-word <br>Learn'd of a fairy's lips, for pity stirr'd— <br>Lest while he trembling sings, untimely guest! <br>Watch'd by that cruel Snake and darkly heard, <br>He leave a widow on her lonely nest, <br>To press in silent grief the darlings of her breast.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>VI</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">No gallant knight, adventurous, in his bark, <br>Will seek the fruitful perils of the place, <br>To rouse with dipping oar the waters dark <br>That bear that serpent image on their face. <br>And Love, brave Love! though he attempt the base, <br>Nerved to his loyal death, he may not win <br>His captive lady from the strict embrace <br>Of that foul Serpent, clasping her within <br>His sable folds—like Eve enthrall'd by the old Sin.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>VII</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">But there is none—no knight in panoply, <br>Nor Love, intrench'd in his strong steely coat: <br>No little speck—no sail—no helper nigh, <br>No sign—no whispering—no plash of boat:— <br>The distant shores show dimly and remote, <br>Made of a deeper mist,—serene and gray,— <br>And slow and mute the cloudy shadows float <br>Over the gloomy wave, and pass away, <br>Chased by the silver beams that on their marges play.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>VIII</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And bright and silvery the willows sleep <br>Over the shady verge—no mad winds tease <br>Their hoary heads; but quietly they weep <br>Their sprinkling leaves—half fountains and half trees: <br>Their lilies be—and fairer than all these, <br>A solitary Swan her breast of snow <br>Launches against the wave that seems to freeze <br>Into a chaste reflection, still below <br>Twin shadow of herself wherever she may go.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>IX</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And forth she paddles in the very noon <br>Of solemn midnight like an elfin thing, <br>Charm'd into being by the argent moon— <br>Whose silver light for love of her fair wing <br>Goes with her in the shade, still worshipping <br>Her dainty plumage:—all around her grew <br>A radiant circlet, like a fairy ring; <br>And all behind, a tiny little clue <br>Of light, to guide her back across the waters blue.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>X</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And sure she is no meaner than a fay, <br>Redeem'd from sleepy death, for beauty's sake, <br>By old ordainment:—silent as she lay, <br>Touched by a moonlight wand I saw her wake, <br>And cut her leafy slough, and so forsake <br>The verdant prison of her lily peers, <br>That slept amidst the stars upon the lake— <br>A breathing shape—restored to human fears, <br>And new-born love and grief—self-conscious of her tears.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XI</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And now she clasps her wings around her heart, <br>And near that lonely isle begins to glide, <br>Pale as her fears, and oft-times with a start <br>Turns her impatient head from side to side <br>In universal terrors—all too wide <br>To watch; and often to that marble keep <br>Upturns her pearly eyes, as if she spied <br>Some foe, and crouches in the shadows steep <br>That in the gloomy wave go diving fathoms deep.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XII</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And well she may, to spy that fearful thing <br>All down the dusky walls in circlets wound; <br>Alas! for what rare prize, with many a ring <br>Girding the marble casket round and round? <br>His folded tail, lost in the gloom profound, <br>Terribly darkeneth the rocky base; <br>But on the top his monstrous head is crown'd <br>With prickly spears, and on his doubtful face <br>Gleam his unwearied eyes, red watchers of the place.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XIII <br>Alas! of the hot fires that nightly fall, <br>No one will scorch him in those orbs of spite, <br>So he may never see beneath the wall <br>That timid little creature, all too bright, <br>That stretches her fair neck, slender and white, <br>Invoking the pale moon, and vainly tries <br>Her throbbing throat, as if to charm the night <br>With song—but, hush—it perishes in sighs, <br>And there will be no dirge sad-swelling, though she dies!</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XIV</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">She droops—she sinks—she leans upon the lake, <br>Fainting again into a lifeless flower; <br>But soon the chilly springs anoint and wake <br>Her spirit from its death, and with new power <br>She sheds her stifled sorrows in a shower <br>Of tender song, timed to her falling tears— <br>That wins the shady summit of that tower, <br>And, trembling all the sweeter for its fears, <br>Fills with imploring moan that cruel monster's ears.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XV</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And, lo! the scaly beast is all deprest, <br>Subdued like Argus by the might of sound— <br>What time Apollo his sweet lute addrest <br>To magic converse with the air, and bound <br>The many monster eyes, all slumber-drown'd:— <br>So on the turret-top that watchful Snake <br>Pillows his giant head, and lists profound, <br>As if his wrathful spite would never wake, <br>Charm'd into sudden sleep for Love and Beauty's sake!</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XVI</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">His prickly crest lies prone upon his crown, <br>And thirsty lip from lip disparted flies, <br>To drink that dainty flood of music down— <br>His scaly throat is big with pent-up sighs— <br>And whilst his hollow ear entranced lies, <br>His looks for envy of the charmed sense <br>Are fain to listen, till his steadfast eyes, <br>Stung into pain by their own impotence, <br>Distil enormous tears into the lake immense.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XVII <br>Oh, tuneful Swan! oh, melancholy bird! <br>Sweet was that midnight miracle of song, <br>Rich with ripe sorrow, needful of no word <br>To tell of pain, and love, and love's deep wrong— <br>Hinting a piteous tale—perchance how long <br>Thy unknown tears were mingled with the lake, <br>What time disguised thy leafy mates among— <br>And no eye knew what human love and ache <br>Dwelt in those dewy leaves, and heart so nigh to break.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XVIII</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">Therefore no poet will ungently touch <br>The water-lily, on whose eyelids dew <br>Trembles like tears; but ever hold it such <br>As human pain may wander through and through, <br>Turning the pale leaf paler in its hue— <br>Wherein life dwells, transfigured, not entomb'd, <br>By magic spells. Alas! who ever knew <br>Sorrow in all its shapes, leafy and plumed, <br>Or in gross husks of brutes eternally inhumed?</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XIX</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And now the winged song has scaled the height <br>Of that dark dwelling, builded for despair, <br>And soon a little casement flashing bright <br>Widens self-open'd into the cool air— <br>That music like a bird may enter there <br>And soothe the captive in his stony cage; <br>For there is nought of grief, or painful care, <br>But plaintive song may happily engage <br>From sense of its own ill, and tenderly assuage.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XX</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And forth into the light, small and remote, <br>A creature, like the fair son of a king, <br>Draws to the lattice in his jewell'd coat <br>Against the silver moonlight glistening, <br>And leans upon his white hand listening <br>To that sweet music that with tenderer tone <br>Salutes him, wondering what kindly thing <br>Is come to soothe him with so tuneful moan, <br>Singing beneath the walls as if for him alone!</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XXI</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And while he listens, the mysterious song, <br>Woven with timid particles of speech. <br>Twines into passionate words that grieve along <br>The melancholy notes, and softly teach <br>The secrets of true love,—that trembling reach <br>His earnest ear, and through the shadows dun <br>He missions like replies, and each to each <br>Their silver voices mingle into one, <br>Like blended streams that make one music as they run.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XXII</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">'Ah! Love, my hope is swooning in my heart,—' <br>'Ay, sweet, my cage is strong and hung full high—' <br>'Alas! our lips are held so far apart, <br>Thy words come faint,—they have so far to fly!—' <br>'If I may only shun that serpent-eye,—' <br>'Ah me! that serpent-eye doth never sleep;—' <br>'Then, nearer thee, Love's martyr, I will die!—' <br>'Alas, alas! that word has made me weep! <br>For pity's sake remain safe in thy marble keep!'</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XXIII</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">'My marble keep! it is my marble tomb—' <br>'Nay, sweet! but thou hast there thy living breath—' <br>'Aye to expend in sighs for this hard doom;—' <br>'But I will come to thee and sing beneath,' <br>'And nightly so beguile this serpent wreath;—' <br>'Nay, I will find a path from these despairs.' <br>'Ah, needs then thou must tread the back of death, <br>Making his stony ribs thy stony stairs.— <br>Behold his ruby eye, how fearfully it glares!'</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XXIV</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">Full sudden at these words, the princely youth <br>Leaps on the scaly back that slumbers, still <br>Unconscious of his foot, yet not for ruth, <br>But numb'd to dulness by the fairy skill <br>Of that sweet music (all more wild and shrill <br>For intense fear) that charm'd him as he lay— <br>Meanwhile the lover nerves his desperate will, <br>Held some short throbs by natural dismay, <br>Then down the serpent-track begins his darksome way.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XXV</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">Now dimly seen—now toiling out of sight, <br>Eclipsed and cover'd by the envious wall; <br>Now fair and spangled in the sudden light, <br>And clinging with wide arms for fear of fall; <br>Now dark and shelter'd by a kindly pall <br>Of dusky shadow from his wakeful foe; <br>Slowly he winds adown—dimly and small, <br>Watch'd by the gentle Swan that sings below, <br>Her hope increasing, still, the larger he doth grow.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XXVI</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">But nine times nine the serpent folds embrace <br>The marble walls about—which he must tread <br>Before his anxious foot may touch the base: <br>Long in the dreary path, and must be sped! <br>But Love, that holds the mastery of dread, <br>Braces his spirit, and with constant toil <br>He wins his way, and now, with arms outspread, <br>Impatient plunges from the last long coil; <br>So may all gentle Love ungentle Malice foil!</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XXVII</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">The song is hush'd, the charm is all complete, <br>And two fair Swans are swimming on the lake: <br>But scarce their tender bills have time to meet, <br>When fiercely drops adown that cruel Snake— <br>His steely scales a fearful rustling make, <br>Like autumn leaves that tremble and foretell <br>The sable storm;—the plumy lovers quake— <br>And feel the troubled waters pant and swell, <br>Heaved by the giant bulk of their pursuer fell.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XXVIII</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">His jaws, wide yawning like the gates of Death, <br>Hiss horrible pursuit—his red eyes glare <br>The waters into blood—his eager breath <br>Grows hot upon their plumes:—now, minstrel fair! <br>She drops her ring into the waves, and there <br>It widens all around, a fairy ring <br>Wrought of the silver light—the fearful pair <br>Swim in the very midst, and pant and cling <br>The closer for their fears, and tremble wing to wing.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XXIX</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">Bending their course over the pale gray lake, <br>Against the pallid East, wherein light play'd <br>In tender flushes, still the baffled Snake <br>Circled them round continually, and bay'd <br>Hoarsely and loud, forbidden to invade <br>The sanctuary ring—his sable mail <br>Roll'd darkly through the flood, and writhed and made <br>A shining track over the waters pale, <br>Lash'd into boiling foam by his enormous tail. </a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XXX</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And so they sail'd into the distance dim, <br>Into the very distance—small and white, <br>Like snowy blossoms of the spring that swim <br>Over the brooklets—follow'd by the spite <br>Of that huge Serpent, that with wild affright <br>Worried them on their course, and sore annoy, <br>Till on the grassy marge I saw them 'light, <br>And change, anon, a gentle girl and boy, <br>Lock'd in embrace of sweet unutterable joy!</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><br>XXXI</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=529825" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">Then came the Morn, and with her pearly showers <br>Wept on them, like a mother, in whose eyes <br>Tears are no grief; and from his rosy bowers <br>The Oriental sun began to rise, <br>Chasing the darksome shadows from the skies; <br>Wherewith that sable Serpent far away <br>Fled, like a part of night—delicious sighs <br>From waking blossoms purified the day, <br>And little birds were singing sweetly from each spray.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><a href="http://poems.citatepedia.com/">poem</a> by <strong><a rel="author" href="http://authors.citatepedia.com/by.php?a=Thomas+Hood">Thomas Hood</a></strong></div>