WHILE THE MUSICIAN PLAYED.

O it was but a dream I had

While the musician played!—

And here the sky, and here the glad

Old ocean kissed the glade —

And here the laughing ripples ran,

And here the roses grew

That threw a kiss to every man

That voyaged with the crew.

Our silken sails in lazy folds

Drooped in the breathless breeze:

As o'er a field of marigolds

Our eyes swam o'er the seas;

While here the eddies lisped and purled

Around the island's rim,

And up from out the underworld

We saw the mermen swim.

And it was dawn and middle-day

And midnight — for the moon

On silver rounds across the bay

Had climbed the skies of June —

And there the glowing, glorious king

Of day ruled o'er his realm,

With stars of midnight glittering

About his diadem.

The seagull reeled on languid wing

In circles round the mast,

We heard the songs the sirens sing

As we went sailing past;

And up and down the golden sands

A thousand fairy throngs

Flung at us from their flashing hands

The echoes of their songs.

O it was but a dream I had

While the musician played —

For here the sky, and here the glad

Old ocean kissed the glade;

And here the laughing ripples ran,

And here the roses grew

That threw a kiss to every man

That voyaged with the crew.