216 THK ENCHANTED PLANTS. 



FABLE III. 

 DESPAIR. 



LIST, maidens, in this witching hour, 

 How a charmed Hare-bell loved a swain 



Yclep'd the shepherd of the bower, 

 Who cared not for her pain. 



Yet he, forsooth, was kind and good, 

 And he wooed Geraldine the fair, 



And gathered garlands in the wood 

 To deck her golden hair. 



He culled the wild Rose wet with dew, 

 He culled the Lily of the vale, 



And Eglantine, and Violet blue, 

 Sweet May, and Primrose pale. 



And eke this small bell, mid the grass, 

 His eye exploring oft would meet 



And yet he stooped not, for alas ! 

 She breathed no tempting sweet. 



