Page:The West Indies, and Other Poems.djvu/101

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89

By harvest moonlight there he spied

The fairy bands advancing ; Bright Ariel's troop, on Thames's side,

Around the willow dancing ; Gay sylphs among the foliage play'd, And glow-worms glitter'd in the shade.

One morn, while Time thus mark'd the tree,

In beauty green and glorious, ' The hand,' he cried, * that planted thee

  • O'er mine was oft victorious ;
  • Be vengeance now my calm employ,—
  • One work of Pope's I xvUl destroy.'

He spake, and struck a silent blow With that dread arm whose motion

Lays cedars, thrones, and temples low, And wields o'er land and ocean

The unremitting axe of doom..

That fells the forest of the tomb.

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