The Romance of a Water-Lily. 125

 

right. Yet would I not have been so selfish as that
woman whom thou didst love on earth, and who sent
thee to thy death sooner than renounce a mere whim.
Nay, I will keep thee by me, to love thee always, for
thou art fairer than the sons of the fairies.”

Again Michael withdrew himself gently from her
as she threw her white arms around him and cooed,
laughing in his ear; but she noted it not as she drew
him once more towards the magic pool, and bent his
fair head over it that he might see within, while she
softly blew across the water on her reed ; and, lo! as
he looked, that which she had said came to pass, and
he saw reflected on the limpid surface the passing
image of all the fairest countries of the world. Yes ;
the smooth waters of Northern rivers appeared to
him, with willows upon their banks, and ragged-robin
and meadow-sweet in the meadows at their sides ;
and beside the tall bulrushes the Rhone lilies grew,
and the rivers ran through deep woods of spreading
elms and beeches, such as he had never seen, and
past lordly mansions with wondrous gardens by the