When we went hunting in Fairyland, (O the chiming bells on her bridle-rein!) And the hounds broke leash at the queen's command, (O the toss of her palfrey's mane!) Like shadows we fled through the weaving shade With quivering moonbeams thick inlaid, And the shrilling bugles around us played-- I dreamed that I fought the Dane. Clatter of faun-feet sudden and swift, (O the view-halloo in the dusky wood!) And satyrs crowding the mountain rift, (O the flare of her fierce wild mood!) Boulders and hollows alive, astir With a goat-thighed foe, all teeth and fur, We husked that foe like a chestnut bur-- I thought of the Holy Rood. We trailed from our shallop a magic net, (O the spell of her voice with its crooning note!) By the edge of the world, where the stars are set, (O the ripples that rocked our boat!) But into the mesh of the star-sown dream A mermaid swept on the lashing stream, A drift of spume and an emerald gleam-- I remembered my love's white throat. When we held revel in Fairyland, (O the whirl of the dancers under the Hill!) The wind-harp sang to the queen's light hand, (O her eyes, so deep and still!) But I was a captive among them all, And the jeweled flagons were brimming with gall, And the arras of gold was a dungeon-wall,-- I dreamed that they set me free! IV THE GRASSHOPPERS' LIBRARY HOW RANULPH LE PROVENÇAL CEASED TO BE A MINSTREL AND BECAME A TROUBADOUR On a hillside above a stone-terraced oval hollow, a youth lay singing softly to himself and making such music as he could upon a rote. The instrument was of the sort which King David had in mind when he said, "Awake, psaltery and harp; I myself will awake early." It was a box-shaped thing like a zither, which at one time had probably owned ten strings. The player was adapting his music as best he might to favor its peculiarities. Notwithstanding his debonair employment, he did not look as if he were on very good terms with life. His cloak and hose were shabby and weather-stained, his doublet was still less presentable, his cheeks were hollow, and there were dark circles under his eyes. Presently he abandoned the song altogether, and lay, chin in hand, staring down into the grass-grown, ancient pit.