To Fancy
by Thomas Hood
Most delicate Ariel! submissive thing,
Won by the mind's high magic to its hest, --
Invisible embassy, or secret guest, --
Weighing the light air on a lighter wing; --
Whether into the midnight moon, to bring
Illuminate visions to the eye of rest, --
Or rich romances from the florid West, --
Or to the sea, for mystic whispering, --
Still by thy charmed allegiance to the will
The fruitful wishes prosper in the brain,
As by the fingering of fairy skill, --
Moonlight, and waters, and soft music's strain,
Odors, and blooms, and my Miranda's smile,
Making this dull world an enchanted isle.
Source:
The Poetical Works Of Thomas HoodCopyright 1861
Boston: Crosby, Nichols, Lee and Company