Away we go, my Boat and I Frail man ne'er sate in such another; Away we go-and what care we Up goes my Boat among the stars The Crab, the Scorpion, and the Bullthem all; have shot We pry among High o'er the red-haired race of Mars, Such company I like it not! The towns in Saturn are decayed, And melancholy Spectres throng them ; The Pleiads, that appear to kiss Each other in the vast abyss, Swift Mercury resounds with mirth, green Then back to Earth, the dear ages The world for my remarks and me Earth: See! there she is, the matchless Earth! Yon tawny slip is Libya's sands; That silver thread the river Dnieper! Ye fairies, from all evil keep her! And see the town where I was born! Never did fifty things at once "Shame on you!" cried my little Boat, "Was ever such a homesick Loon, Within a living Boat to sit, And make no better use of it; A Boat twin-sister of the crescent-moon! Ne'er in the breast of full-grown Poet These nether precincts do not lack Haste! and above Siberian snows I know the secrets of a land Where human foot did never stray; Or we'll into the realm of Faery, Or, if you thirst with hardy zeal How earth and heaven are taught to feel "My little vagrant Form of light, My gay and beautiful Canoe, Well have you played your friendly part; Temptation lurks among your words; No wonder if you quite forget What on the earth is doing. There was a time when all mankind Did listen with a faith sincere To tuneful tongues in mystery versed; Go-(but the world's a sleepy world, Long have I loved what I behold, The night that calms, the day that cheers; The common growth of mother-earth Suffices me-her tears, her mirth, Her humblest mirth and tears. The dragon's wing, the magic ring, With sympathetic heart may stray, These given, what more need I desire What nobler marvels than the mind A potent wand doth Sorrow wield; To the stone-table in my garden, With these are many more convened; There sits the Vicar and his Dame; And, ere the light of evening fail, To them I must relate the Tale Of Peter Bell the Potter." |