HERMES.

Soothsay. Behold, with rod twy-serpented,

Hermes the prophet, twining in one power

The woman with the man. Upon his head

The cloudy cap, wherewith he hath in dower

The cloud's own virtue — change and counterchange,

To show in light, and to withdraw in pall,

As mortal eyes best bear. His lineage strange

From Zeus, Truth's sire, and maiden May — the all-

Illusive Nature. His fledged feet declare

That‘ tis the nether self transdeified,

And the thrice-furnaced passions, which do bear

The poet Olympusward. In him allied

Both parents clasp; and from the womb of Nature

Stern Truth takes flesh in shows of lovely feature.