And the sound of the hermit's vesper bell,

Solemnly tolling in his cell,

Like the voice of a spirit, on the breeze

Came swelling from afar.

God speed thee, good Sir Amys!

Thou hast better things in store;

The flaunting dame may jest and smile,

And the carlish knight may revel awhile;

But he thy friendship will implore,

Who did thy name revile;

And the haughty dame who spurned thy suit

Will gaze, in admiration mute,

On the knight she scorned before.

One by one the stars came forth

Upon the face of heaven,—

First of all the lonely star

That waiteth on the even,

And then, as night crept slowly on,

The rest in constellations shone ;

Tenderly the evening breeze

Sighed amongst the stately trees,

Like a spirit sighing unseen

In wilds where man had seldom been,

And in Sir Amys' drooping heart

A soothing feeling rose,

That a spirit in the trackless wood,

In nature's deepest solitude,

Breathed round his way, and had a part

In his bosom's hidden woes.

Gazing through the stately trees,

The moon's sweet face was seen,

And the leaves that quivered in the breeze,

With the light and shade

Alternate played,

And scattered about,

The forest throughout,

Her light, on the grass between.

Onward in the moonlight

His course Sir Amys bore,

When, suddenly, his charger stood

Fast, at a turning of the wood,

And neighed, and pricked his ears with fright,

As though he smelt a Moor;

And straight before him, sooth to say,

The childe discovered in his way

A curious figure of graceful mien,

And delicate shape as ever was seen :
No grisly Moor,

Nor stiff in stour,

As Paynims are wont to be;

But a dwarfish knight,

Like a little sprite,

Beneath the greenwood tree,

Such as they delight

To tell of at night,

Who are skilled in

grammarye.

Saint Mary, benedicite!

I have learnt to fight the Moor,

And to sit on my steed

In time of need

Till the ground is red with gore;

But a foeman of this dwarfish breed

I never have met before.

Good cheer to thee, Sir Amys!

The dwarfish stranger cried,

Sweet Elfinine,

The Faery Queen,

Knoweth what doth thee betide,

And hath sent me through the forest

To lead thee to her side:

Good cheer be in thy bosom!

No fiend, nor giant foe,

Shall harm thee in this forest,

Whilst thou with me dost go;

The monster and enchanted knight

Shall come not in our way,

green

For o'er this land the Elfin Queen

Holds undivided sway!

Her silken canopy is spread

Beneath her favorite tree,

And there, upon her flowery bed,

Sir Knight, she waiteth thee;

The apple hath dropped, and the grape hath bled,

For this night's festivity.

Then well he knew,

Sir Amys the preux,

That in faerie land his breath he drew;

He answered with seemly courtesy,

For long had he desired to see

The faerie folk, but little, I ween,

Was the knight aware

Of the beauty rare,

And the charms of the Elfin Queen.

Through devious paths, where the moonlight lay

In silver streaks, they held their way;