THE FOREST NYMPH.
“Wander not in the dark forest,
Where a woman roams at will,
And that woman is a wood nymph,
Charming hearts to every ill.”
“Charming hearts? With what, my mother?”
“With her eyes of teuderest blue—
But a little while it lasteth—
But a day, and then they rue.
“Treacherous is that nymph of forest,
Many youths hath led astray;
Many she has left heart-broken,
Many she has killed away.”
“And where wanders she, my mother?”
“By a rock, near fir trees tall.
She is queen of all the wood nymphs,
And the forest hidden thrall.
“When the moon at full is shining,
On the trees and creeping things,
She goes wandering in the forest,
And a wondrous song she sings.
“Wander not in the dark forest,
Where a woman roams at will,
And this woman is a wood nymph,
Charming hearts to every ill.”
The day is passed, night draweth near,
He kissed his mother softly,
“Good-night,” he said, “may Heaven send
A dream most fair and lovely.”
