One night, when the moon shone fair on the main, Choice spirits were gathered from meadow and plain-- And lightly embarking from Erin's bold cliffs, They slid o'er the wave in their moonbeam skiffs. A ray for a rudder--a thought for a sail-- Swift, swift was each bark as the wing of the gale. [Illustration: Voyage of the Fairies] Yet long were the tale, Should I linger to say What gambol and frolic Enlivened the way; How they flirted with bubbles That danced on the wave, Or listened to mermaids That sang from the cave; Or slid with the moonbeams Down deep to the grove Of coral, where mullet And goldfish rove: How there, in long vistas Of silence and sleep, They waltzed, as if mocking The death of the deep: How, oft, where the wreck Lay scattered and torn, They peeped in the skull, All ghastly and lorn; Or deep, 'mid wild rocks, Quizzed the goggling shark, And mouthed at the sea-wolf, So solemn and stark; Each seeming to think That the earth and the sea Were made but for fairies, For gambol and glee! V. Enough, that at last they came to the Isle, Where moonlight and fragrance were rivals the while. Not yet had those vessels from Palos been here, To turn the bright gem to the blood-mingled tear. Oh no! still blissful and peaceful the land, And the merry elves flew from the sea to the strand. Right happy and joyous seemed now the fond crew, As they tripped 'mid the orange groves flashing in dew, For they were to hold a revel that night, A gay fancy ball, and each to be dight In the gem or the flower that fancy might choose, From mountain or vale, for its fragrance or hues. VI. Away sped the maskers like arrows of light To gather their gear for the revel bright. To the dazzling peaks of far-off Peru, In emulous speed some sportively flew, And deep in the mine, or 'mid glaciers on high, For ruby and sapphire searched heedful and sly. For diamonds rare that gleam in the bed Of Brazilian streams, some merrily sped, While others for topaz and emerald stray, 'Mid the cradle cliffs of the Paraguay. [Illustration: The Fairies' Search] VII.