Lived Edwin of the Green;
Edwin, I wis3, a gentle youth,
Endowed with courage, sense, and truth,
Though badly shaped he been.
His mountain back mote1 well be said
To measure height against his head,
And lift itself above;
Yet spite of all that nature did
To make his uncouth form forbid,
This creature dared to love.
He felt the charms of Edith's eyes,
Nor wanted hope to gain the prize,
Could ladies look within;
But one Sir Topaz dressed with art,
And, if a shape could win a heart,
He had a shape to win.
Edwin, if right I read my song,
With slighted passion paced along
All in the moony light;
'Twas near an old enchanted court,
Where sportive fairies made resort
To revel out the night.
His heart was drear, his hope was crossed,
'Twas late, 'twas far, the path was lost
That reached the neighbour-town;
With weary steps he quits the shades,
Resolved, the darkling dome he treads,
And drops his limbs adown.
But scant he lays him on the floor,
When hollow winds remove the door,
And trembling rocks the ground:
And, well I ween to count aright,
At once a hundred tapers light
On all the walls around.
Now sounding tongues assail his ear,
Now sounding feet approachens near,
And now the sounds increase:
And from the corner where he lay,
He sees a train profusely gay
4 mote, might.
5 scant, scarcely.
Come prankling o'er the place.
6 approachen, approached,
7 prankling, advancing merrily.
But (trust me gentles) never yet
Was dight a masquing half so neat,
Or half so rich before;
The country lent its sweet perfumes,
The sea the pearl, the sky the plumes,
The town its silken store.
Now while he gazed, a gallant drest
In flaunting robes above the rest,
With awful accent cried;
"What mortal of a wretched mind,
"Whose sighs infect the balmy wind,
"Has here presumed to hide?"
At this the swain, whose vent'rous soul
No fears of magic art control,
Advanced in open sight;
"Nor have I cause of dread," he said,
"Who view, by no presumption led,
"Your revels of the night.
""Twas grief, for scorn of faithful love,
"Which made my steps unweeting'o rove
"Amid the nightly dew."
""Tis well," the gallant cries again,
"We fairies never injure men
"Who dare to tell us true.
"Exalt thy love-dejected heart,
"Be mine the task, or e'er we part,
"To make thee grief resign;
"Now take the pleasure of thy chance;
"Whilst I with Mab, my partner, dance,
"Be little Mabel thine."
He spoke, and all a sudden there
Light music floats in wanton air;
The monarch leads the queen;
The rest their fairy partners found:
And Mabel trimly tript the ground
With Edwin of the Green.
The dancing past, the board was laid,
And siker such a feast was made,
As heart and lip desire;
Withouten hands the dishes fly,
The glasses with a wish come nigh,
And with a wish retire.
8 dight, decked.
9 flaunting, gaudy.
10 unweeting, unconscious. 11 siker, surely.
But, now to please the fairy king,
Full every deal1 they laugh and sing,
And antic feats devise;
Some wind and tumble like an ape,
And other-some transmute their shape
In Edwin's wondering eyes.
Till one at last, that Robin13 hight14,
Renowned for pinching maids by night,
Has hent's him up aloof:
And full against the beam he flung,
Where by the back the youth he hung
To sprawl unneath the roof.
From thence, "Reverse my charm," he cries,
“And let it fairly now suffice,
"The gambol has been shown."
But Oberon's answers with a smile,
"Content thee, Edwin, for a while,
"The vantage19 is thine own."
Here ended all the phantom-play;
They smelt the fresh approach of day,
And heard a cock to crow;
The whirling wind that bore the crowd
Has clapped the door, and whistled loud,
To warn them all to go.
Then screaming all at once, they fly,
And all at once the tapers die:
Poor Edwin falls to floor:
Forlorn his state, and dark the place,
Was never wight20 in such a case,
Through all the land before.
But soon as Dan Apollo rose,
Full jolly creature home he goes,
He feels his back the less;
His honest tongue and steady mind
Had rid him of the lump behind,
Which made him want success.
With lusty livelyhed he talks,
He seems a dancing as he walks,
13 Robin, Puck or Robin Goodfellow was a fairy remarkable for playing waggish tricks, in the old superstitious tales.
16 aloof, to a short distance, or high. 17 unneath, underneath.
18 Oberon, the king of the fairies. 19 vantage, advantage.
20 wight, a person.
His story soon took wind;
And beauteous Edith sees the youth,
Endowed with courage, sense, and truth,
Without a bunch behind.
The story told, Sir Topaz moved,
The youth of Edith erst" approved,
To see the revel scene:
At close of eve he leaves his home,
And wends22 to find the ruined dome,
All on the gloomy plain.
As there he bides23, it so befel,
The wind came rustling down a dell,
A shaking seized the wall;
Up sprang the tapers as before,
The fairies bragly foot the floor,
And music fills the hall.
But certes25, sorely sunk with wo,
Sir Topaz sees the elfin show26,
His spirits in him die;
When Oberon cries, "A man is near;
"A mortal passion cleped fear,
"Hangs flagging in the sky."
With that, Sir Topaz, hapless youth!
In accents faltering, ay for ruth28,
Entreats then pity graunt;
For als29 he been a mister wight30,
Betrayed by wandering in the night,
To tread the circled haunt.
Ah, losel31 vile!" at once they roar; "And little skilled of fairy lore32,
Thy cause to come we know:
"Now has thy kestrel33 courage fell;
"And fairies, since a lie you tell,
"Are free to work thee wo."
Then Will, who bears the wispy fire,
To trail the swains among the mire,
21 erst, formerly.
22 wends, goes.
23 bides, remains.
24 bragly, proudly.
25 certes, certainly.
26 elfin, fairy; the fairies are also called elves.
21 cleped or ycleped, named, called.
28 ruth, mercy.
29 als, also.
30 mister wight, a person of the same kind (as Edwin). .
31 losel, a worthless fellow.
32 lore, learning,
33 kestrel, dastardly.
The caitiff upward flung;
There like a tortoise in a shop,
He dangled from the chamber-top,
Where whilome3 Edwin hung.
The revel now proceeds apace,
Deftly 35 they frisk it o'er the place,
They sit, they drink, and eat;
The time with frolic mirth beguile,
And poor Sir Topaz hangs the while,
Till all the rout retreat.
By this, the stars began to wink;
They shriek, they fly, the tapers sink,
And down y-drops the knight;
For never spell, by fairy laid
With strong enchantment bound a glade3
Beyond the length of night.
Chill, dark, alone, adreed37, he lay,
Till up the welkin38 rose the day,
Then deem'd the dole39 was o'er:
But wot40 ye well his harder lot?
His seely back the bunch had got,
Which Edwin lost afore.
This tale a Sibyl43 nurse ared13;
She softly stroked my youngling head,
And when the tale was done,
"Thus some are born, my son," she cries,
"With base impediments to rise;
"And some are born with none.
"But virtue can itself advance
"To what the favourite fools of chance
"By fortune seem designed;
"Virtue can gain the odds of fate,
"And from itself shake off the weight
"Upon th' unworthy mind."
34 whilome, formerly.
35 deftly, neatly.
36 glade, a lawn.
37 adreed, terrified.
38 welkin, sky.
39 dole, grief, pain.
40 wot, know.
41 seely, silly, foolish.
42 Sibyl, aged, like a Sibyl, an old
woman, famed for prophetic skill.
43 ared, related as advice.
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