Still our adventurer is nothing daunted.
He thrusts before, and he strikes behind,
Till he pierces the cloudy bodies through
And gashes the shadowy limbs of mind.
and the Elfin makes no stop, until he reaches the "bank of the milky
way." He there checks his courser, and watches "for the glimpse of the
planet shoot." While thus engaged, however, an unexpected adventure
befalls him. He is approached by a company of the "sylphs of Heaven
attired in sunset's crimson pall." They dance around him, and "skip
before him on the plain." One receiving his "wasp-sting lance," and
another taking his bridle-rein,
With warblings wild they lead him on,
To where, through clouds of amber seen,
Studded with stars resplendent shone
The palace of the sylphid queen.
A glowing description of the queen's beauty follows: and as the form
of an earthly Fay had never been seen before in the bowers of light,
she is represented as falling desperately in love at first sight
with our adventurous Ouphe. He returns the compliment in some measure,
of course; but, although "his heart bent fitfully," the "earthly
form imprinted there" was a security against a too vivid impression.
He declines, consequently, the invitation of the queen to remain
with her and amuse himself by "lying within the fleecy drift,"
"hanging upon the rainbow's rim," having his "brow adorned with all
the jewels of the sky," "sitting within the Pleiad ring," "resting
upon Orion's belt" "riding upon the lightning's gleam," "dancing
upon the orbed moon," and "swimming within the milky way.
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