DOUBT NO MORE THAT OBERON

Doubt no more that Oberon —

Never doubt that Pan

Lived, and played a reed, and ran

After nymphs in a dark forest,

In the merry, credulous days,—

Lived, and led a fairy band

Over the indulgent land!

Ah, for in this dourest, sorest

Age man's eye has looked upon,

Death to fauns and death to fays,

Still the dog-wood dares to raise —

Healthy tree, with trunk and root —

Ivory bowls that bear no fruit,

And the starlings and the jays —

Birds that cannot even sing —

Dare to come again in spring!