Rover, sailed away,
He scoured the seas for many a day;
And now, grown rich with plundered store,
He steers his course for Scotland's shore.

So thick a haze o'erspreads the sky
They cannot see the Sun on high;
The wind hath blown a gale all day;
At evening it hath died away.

On the deck the Rover takes his stand;
So dark it is they see no land.
Quoth Sir Ralph, "It will be lighter soon,
For there is the dawn of the rising Moon."

"Canst hear," said one, "the breakers roar?
For yonder, methinks, should be the shore.
Now where we are I cannot tell,
But I wish we could hear the Inchcape Bell."

They hear no sound; the swell is strong;
Though the wind hath fallen, they drift along,
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock,--
"O Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock."

Sir Ralph, the Rover, tore his hair;
He cursed himself in his despair.
The waves rush in on every side;
The ship is sinking beneath the tide.

But even in his dying fear,
One dreadful sound he seemed to hear,--
A sound as if, with the Inchcape Bell,
The Devil below was ringing his knell.

The Shakespeare passages which follow are from
the fairy play "A Midsummer Night's Dream." A
teacher well acquainted with that play would
find it possible to delight children with it.
The fairy and rustic scenes could be given
almost in their entirety, the other scenes
could be summarized.

361

OVER HILL, OVER DALE

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

362

A FAIRY SCENE IN A WOOD

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

FAIRY QUEEN TITANIA (_calls to her_ FAIRIES _following her_)

Come, now a roundel and a fairy song;
Then,