So sleeps in silence the Curculio, shut 410 In the dark chambers of the cavern'd nut, Erodes with ivory beak the vaulted shell, And quits on filmy wings its narrow cell. So the pleased Linnet in the moss-wove nest, Waked into life beneath its parent's breast, 415 Chirps in the gaping shell, bursts forth erelong, Shakes its new plumes, and tries its tender song.-- --And now the talisman she strikes, that charms Her husband-Sylph,--and calls him to her arms.-- Quick, the light Gnat her airy Lord bestrides, 420 With cobweb reins the flying courser guides, From crystal steeps of viewless ether springs, Cleaves the soft air on still expanded wings; Darts like a sunbeam o'er the boundless wave, And seeks the beauty in her _secret_ cave. 425 So with quick impulse through all nature's frame Shoots the electric air its subtle flame. So turns the impatient needle to the pole, Tho' mountains rise between, and oceans roll. Where round the Orcades white torrents roar, 430 Scooping with ceaseless rage the incumbent shore, Wide o'er the deep a dusky cavern bends Its marble arms, and high in air impends; Basaltic piers the ponderous roof sustain, And steep their massy sandals in the main; 435 Round the dim walls, and through the whispering ailes Hoarse breathes the wind, the glittering water boils. Here the charm'd BYSSUS with his blooming bride Spreads his green sails, and braves the foaming tide; The star of Venus gilds the twilight wave, 440 And lights her votaries to the _secret_ cave; Light Cupids flutter round the nuptial bed, And each coy sea-maid hides her blushing head. [_Basaltic piers_. l. 433. This description alludes to the cave of Fingal in the island of Staffa. The basaltic columns, which compose the Giants Causeway on the coast of Ireland, as well as those which support the cave of Fingal, are evidently of volcanic origin, as is well illustrated in an ingenious paper of Mr. Keir, in the Philos. Trans. who observed in the glass, which had been long in a fusing heat at the bottom of the pots in the glass-houses at Stourbridge, that crystals were produced of a form similar to the parts of the basaltic columns of the Giants Causeway.] [_Byssus_. 437. Clandestine Marriage. It floats on the sea in the day, and sinks a little during the night; it is found in caverns on the northern shores, of a pale green colour, and as thin as paper.]