iff,
More daring far than Hippogriff,
And be thy own delight! 155

"To the stone-table in my garden,
Loved haunt of many a summer hour, [E]
The Squire is come: his daughter Bess
Beside him in the cool recess
Sits blooming like a flower. 160

"With these are many more convened;
They know not I have been so far;--
I see them there, in number nine,
Beneath the spreading Weymouth-pine!
I see them--there they are! 165

"There sits the Vicar and his Dame;
And there my good friend, Stephen Otter;
And, ere the light of evening fail,
To them I must relate the Tale
Of Peter Bell the Potter." 170

Off flew the Boat--away she flees,
Spurning her freight with indignation! [16]
"And I, as well as I was able,
On two poor legs, toward my stone-table
Limped on with sore vexation. [17] 175

"O, here he is!" cried little Bess--
She saw me at the garden-door;
"We've waited anxiously and long,"
They cried, and all around me throng,
Full nine of them or more! 180

"Reproach me not--your fears be still--
Be thankful we again have met;--
Resume, my Friends! within the shade
Your seats, and quickly [18] shall be paid
The well-remembered debt." 185

I spake with faltering voice, like one
Not wholly rescued from the pale
Of a wild dream, or worse illusion;
But, straight, to cover my confusion,
Began the promised Tale. [19] 190

PART FIRST

All by the moonlight river side
Groaned the poor Beast--alas! in vain;
The staff was raised to loftier height,
And the blows fell with heavier weight
As Peter struck--and struck again. [20] 195

[21]

"Hold!" cried the Squire, "against the rules
Of common sense you're surely sinning;
This leap is for us all too bold; [22]
Who Peter was, let that be told,
And start from the beginning." 200

--"A Potter, [F] Sir, he was by trade,"
Said I, becoming quite collected;
"And wheresoever he appeared,
Full twenty times was Peter feared
For once that Peter was respected. 205

"He two-and-thirty years or more,
Had been a wild and woodland rover;
Had heard the Atlantic surges roar
On fart