And she had a lover--lowly sprung,-- But a purer, nobler heart Never spake in a courtlier tongue Or wooed with a dearer art: And the fair pair paled at the King's decree; But the smiling Fates contrived To have them wed, in a secrecy That the Queen HERSELF connived-- While the grim King's heralds scoured the land And the countries roundabout, Shouting aloud, at the King's command, A challenge to knave or lout, Prince or peasant,--"The mighty King Would have ye understand That he who shows him the strangest thing Shall have his daughter's hand!" And thousands flocked to the royal throne, Bringing a thousand things Strange and curious;--One, a bone-- The hinge of a fairy's wings; And one, the glass of a mermaid queen, Gemmed with a diamond dew, Where, down in its reflex, dimly seen, Her face smiled out at you. One brought a cluster of some strange date, With a subtle and searching tang That seemed, as you tasted, to penetrate The heart like a serpent's fang; And back you fell for a spell entranced, As cold as a corpse of stone, And heard your brains, as they laughed and danced And talked in an undertone. One brought a bird that could whistle a tune So piercingly pure and sweet, That tears would fall from the eyes of the moon In dewdrops at its feet; And the winds would sigh at the sweet refrain, Till they swooned in an ecstacy, To waken again in a hurricane Of riot and jubilee. One brought a lute that was wrought of a shell Luminous as the shine Of a new-born star in a dewy dell,-- And its strings were strands of wine That sprayed at the Fancy's touch and fused, As your listening spirit leant Drunken through with the airs that oozed From the o'ersweet instrument. One brought a tablet of ivory Whereon no thing was writ,-- But, at night--and the dazzled eyes would see Flickering lines o'er it,-- And each, as you read from the magic tome, Lightened and died in flame, And the memory held but a golden poem Too beautiful to name. Till it seemed all marvels that ever were known Or dreamed of under the sun Were brought and displayed at the royal throne, And put by, one by one Till a graybeard monster came to the King-- Haggard and wrinkled and old-- And spread to his gaze this wondrous thing,-- A gossamer veil of gold.-- Strangely marvelous--mocking the gaze Like a tangle of bright sunshine, Dipping a million glittering rays In a baptism divine: And a maiden, sheened in this gauze attire-- Sifting a glance of her eye-- Dazzled men's souls with a fierce desire To kiss and caress her and--die.