That thou, far fairer than a flower, should'st hide

From too familiar sight thy beauty's wealth,

And give it unto one whose long-tried heart

May claim a prize so rich.

Smile, Lady, mine,

And though thou art so passing fair, yet deign

To imitate the lily-bells-and I

Will shelter thee from every unkind breath,

And fold thee close in true and faithful love,

E'en as those leaves the flowers.

Oberon.

Puck.
Oberon.

PANSIES; OR LOVE IN IDLENESS.

Ophelia.

My gentle Puck, come hither: thou remember'st
Since once I sat upon a promontory,

And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back

Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude sea grew civil at her song,
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea maid's music.

I remember

That very time I saw, (but thou could'st not)
Flying between the cold moon and the earth,
Cupid all armed: a certain aim he took

At a fair vestal, throned by the west;

And loosed his love shaft smartly from his bow,

As it should pierce an hundred thousand hearts.

But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft

Quenched in the chaste beams of the watery moon -
And the imperial votress pass'd on

In maiden meditation, fancy free;

Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell:

It fell upon a little western flower,

Before milk white, now purple with Love's wound

And maidens call it "Love in idleness."

SHAKSPEARE.

There's Rosemary—that's for remembrance; 'pray you, love, remember: and there is Pansies, that's for thoughts.

Laertes.

A document in madness-thoughts and remembrance fitted.

IBID.

MOST strangely true and beautiful hath grown
The fancy of that line-PANSIES for thoughts;
And thought is changeful ever. So are now
The fair Ophelia's token flowers more fit
To be its emblems; for their varying hues,
Like thoughts, diversified with bright, and deep,
And gay, and sombre tints, mirror the mind
In every changeful mood. Some robe them still