Leaves from Australian Forests (1869). Syrinx
A heap of low, dark, rocky coast, Unknown to foot or feather! A sea-voice moaning like a ghost; And fits of fiery weather! The flying Syrinx turned and sped By dim, mysterious hollows, Where night is black, and day is red, And frost the fire-wind follows. Strong, heavy footfalls in the wake Came up with flights of water: The gods were mournful for the sake Of Ladon's lovely daughter. For when she came to spike and spine, Where reef and river gather, Her feet were sore with shell and chine; She could not travel farther. Across a naked strait of land Blown sleet and surge were humming; But trammelled with the shifting sand, She heard the monster coming! A thing of hoofs and horns and lust: A gaunt, goat-footed stranger! She bowed her body in the dust And called on Zeus to change her; And called on Hermes, fair and fleet, And her of hounds and quiver, To hide her in the thickets sweet That sighed above the river. So he that sits on flaming wheels, And rules the sea and thunder, Caught up the satyr by the heels And tore his skirts asunder. While Arcas, of the glittering plumes, Took Ladon's daughter lightly, And set her in the gracious glooms That mix with moon-mist nightly; And touched her lips with wild-flower wine, And changed her body slowly, Till, in soft reeds of song and shine, Her life was hidden wholly.
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