DRAGONS AND DAMSELS 65 



of mail. After we have found the cast-off nymph- 

 skins on the banks and watched the wonderful 

 transformation from nymph to adult, we shall bet- 

 ter appreciate Tennyson's beautiful lines: 



"To-day I saw the dragon-fly 

 Come from the wells where he did lie; 

 An inner impulse rent the veil 

 Of his old husk; from head to tail 

 Came out clear plates of sapphire mail. 

 He dried his wings ; like gauze they grew : 

 Thro' crofts and pastures wet with dew 

 A living flash of light he flew." 



