II.

AT break of day the College Portress came :

She brought us Academic silks, in hue

The lilac, with a silken hood to each,

And zoned with gold; and now when these were on,

And we as rich as moths from dusk cocoons,

She, curtseying her obeisance, let us know

The Princess Ida waited out we paced,

I first, and following thro' the porch that sang
All round with laurel, issued in a court

Compact with lucid marbles, boss'd with lengths
Of classic frieze, with ample awnings gay

Betwixt the pillars, and with great urns of flowers.
The Muses and the Graces, group'd in threes,

Enring'd a billowing fountain in the midst ;

And here and there on lattice edges lay

Or book or lute; but hastily we past,

And

up a flight of stairs into the hall.

There at a board by tome and paper sat,

With two tame leopards couch'd beside her throne, All beauty compass'd in a female form,

The Princess; liker to the inhabitant

Of some clear planet close upon the Sun,

Than our man's earth; such eyes were in her head,
And so much grace and power, breathing down
From over her arch'd brows, with every turn
Lived thro' her to the tips of her long hands,

And to her feet. She rose her height, and said :

'We give you welcome: not without redound

Of use and glory to yourselves ye come,

The first-fruits of the stranger: aftertime,

And that full voice which circles round the grave, Will rank you nobly, mingled up with me.

What are the ladies of your land so tall?'

'We of the court' said Cyril.

'From the court'

She answer'd, 'then ye know the Prince?' and he:

"The climax of his age! as tho' there were

One rose in all the world, your Highness that,
He worships your ideal:' she replied :

'We scarcely thought in our own hall to hear

This barren verbiage, current among men,

Light coin, the tinsel clink of compliment.

Your flight from out your bookless wilds would

seem

As arguing love of knowledge and of power;

Your language proves you still the child. Indeed,

We dream not of him: when we set our hand

To this great work, we purposed with ourself
Never to wed. You likewise will do well,

Ladies, in entering here, to cast and fling

The tricks, which make us toys of men, that so,

Some future time, if so indeed you will,

You may with those self-styled our lords ally

Your fortunes, justlier balanced, scale with scale.'

At those high words, we conscious of ourselves,
Perused the matting; then an officer

Rose up, and read the statutes, such as these:
Not for three years to correspond with home;
Not for three years to cross the liberties;
Not for three years to speak with any men ;
And many more, which hastily subscribed,

We enter'd on the boards: and 'Now' she cried

'Ye are green wood, see ye warp not. Look, our hall!

Our statues -not of those that men desire,

Sleek Odalisques, or oracles of mode,

Nor stunted squaws of West or East; but she
That taught the Sabine how to rule, and she
The foundress of the Babylonian wall,

The Carian Artemisia strong in war,

The Rhodope, that built the pyramid,
Clelia, Cornelia, with the Palmyrene
That fought Aurelian, and the Roman brows
Of Agrippina. Dwell with these, and lose
Convention, since to look on noble forms

D

Makes noble thro' the sensuous organism

That which is higher. O lift your natures up :
Embrace our aims: work out your freedom.

Knowledge is now no more a fountain seal'd :
Drink deep, until the habits of the slave,

The sins of emptiness, gossip and spite

And slander, die. Better not be at all

Than not be noble. Leave us you may go :

To-day the Lady Pysche will harangue

The fresh arrivals of the week before ;

For they press in from all the provinces,

And fill the hive.'

Girls,

She spoke, and bowing waved

Dismissal back again we crost the court

To Lady Psyche's: as we enter'd in,

There sat along the forms, like morning doves

That sun their milky bosoms on the thatch,

A patient range of pupils; she herself

Erect behind a desk of satin-wood,

A quick brunette, well-moulded, falcon-eyed,