MIDSUMMER NIGHT 139 

 away, find an echo in the heart of the poet, 

 for they sing of the beauty of summer : the 

 swift's cries belong to the spectral light of 

 the stars and the mystery of infinite space. 

 The swift is the mystic among birds. 



The spider moved on as the first star shone 

 in the sky. Maybe his problem was solved, 

 or that he had waited for the beauteous 

 whiteness of Lyra's ray. Slowly he travelled 

 to the leaf he had chosen as a base, paused 

 awhile, and crept back across his life-line. 

 The rooks were settled in the elm- tops by 

 the church, and their caa-caas came less 

 often ; the prospects of the next day's 

 forage among the new potatoes had been 

 discussed thoroughly, and were known to 

 all in satisfaction the colony had settled 

 down to sleep. Gradually the sun sank 

 into the sea, its fire spreading its broad 

 glow through the cloud strata over the far 

 horizon. One by one the stars crept into 

 their places, waiting for the queen-moon 

 to lift her head above the hills of Exmoor. 



