ngue wagging sore!'
'Nay!' said Dame Hickory, 'ye false faerie!'
But a wolf 'twas indeed, and famished was he.

'Dame Hickory, Dame Hickory,
Here's buds for your tomb,
Bramble, and lavender,
And rosemary bloom!'
'Hush!' said Dame Hickory, 'ye false faerie,
Ye cry like a wolf, ye do, and trouble poor me.'

THE PILGRIM

'Shall we carry now your bundle,
You old grey man?

Over hill and over meadow,
Lighter than an owlet's shadow,
We will whirl it through the air,
Through blue regions shrill and bare;

Shall we carry now your bundle,
You old grey man?'

The Pilgrim lifted up his eyes
And saw three fiends, in the skies,
Stooping o'er that lonely place
Evil in form and face.

'O leave me, leave me, leave me,
Ye three wild fiends!

Far it is my feet must wander,
And my city lieth yonder;
I must bear my bundle alone,
Help nor solace suffer none:

O leave me, leave me, leave me,
Ye three wild fiends!'

The fiends stared down with greedy eye,
Fanning the chill air duskily,
'Twixt their hoods they stoop and cry:--

'Shall we smooth the path before you,
You old grey man?

Sprinkle it green with gilded showers,
Strew it o'er with painted flowers?
Shall we blow sweet airs on it,
Lure the magpie there to flit?

Shall we smooth the path before you,
You old grey man?'

'O silence, silence, silence!
Ye three wild fiends!

Over bog, and fen, and boulder,
I must bear it on my shoulder,
Beaten of wind, torn of briar,
Smitten of rain, parched of fire:

O silence, silence, silence!
Ye three wild fiends!'

It seemed a smoke obscured the air,
Bright lightning quivered in the gloom,
And a faint voice of thunder spake
Far in the lone hill-hollows--'Come!'
Then half in fury, half in dread,
The fiends drew closer down and said:--

'Grey old man but sleep awhile;
Sad old man!

Thorn, and dust, and ice, and heat;
Tarry now, sit down and eat;
Heat, and ice, and dust, and thorn;
Stricken, footsore, parched, forlorn,--
Juice of purple grape shall be
Youth and solace unto thee.

With sweet wire and reed we'll haunt you;
Songs of the valley shall enchant you;
Rest now, lest this night you die:
Sweet b