rey primeval days.

For it seems the bears and ogres
Waged a war for mastery
Of these ranges and these vales
Long ere man came wandering in.

Startled then at sight of men
All the giants fled the land;--
Only tiny brains were housed
In their huge, unwieldy heads!

It is also said these dolts,
When they reached the ocean-shore
Where the azure skies lay glassed
In the watery plains below,

Fondly fancied that the sea
Must be Heaven. In they plunged
All in reckless confidence,
And in watery graves were gulfed.

Now the bears are slain by man,
And each year their number grows
Smaller, smaller, till at last
None shall roam within the hills.

"And," the old man cackled, "thus
On this Earth must one yield room
To the other--after man
We shall have a reign of dwarfs.

"Tiny and most clever wights
Toiling in the bowels of Earth,
Busy little folk that gather
Riches from Earth's golden veins.

"I have seen their rounded heads
Peering out of rabbit-holes
In the moonlight--and I shook
As I thought of coming days.

"Yes, I dread the golden power
Of these mites. Our sons, I fear,
Will like stupid giants plunge
Straight into some watery heaven."

[Illustration]

CANTO XIII

In the cauldron of the cliffs
Lies the deep and inky lake.
And from heaven the solemn stars
Peer upon us. Night and stillness.

Night and stillness. Beat of oars.
Like a rippling mystery
Swims our boat. The nieces twain
Serve in place of ferrymen.

Swift and blithe they row. Their arms
Sometimes shine from out the night,
And on their white skins the stars
Gleam and on large eyes of blue.

At my side Lascaro sits
Pale and mute as is his wont,
And I shudder at the thought:
Is Lascaro really dead?

Or perchance 'tis I am dead?
I, perchance, am drifting down
With these spectral passengers
To the icy realm of shades?

Can this lake be Styx's dark,
Sullen flood? Hath Proserpine,
In the absence of her Charon
Sent her maids to fetch me down?

Nay, not yet my days are done!
Unextinguished in my soul
Still the living flame of life,
Leaps and blazes, glows and sings.

And these girls who sw