"But hark! In parts I call my home,

Amid the northern fishers lone,

The art of magic lives. The shaded,

Thick-growing forests wrapt in deep,

Eternal silence lie and keep

The secrets of the wizards aged

Who dwell there and whose minds to quest

For wisdom of the loftiest

And weirdest kind are given. Awesome

Their powers are: what was and also

What will be they have knowledge of,

Life can they snuff and foster love.

"And I, love's mad and avid seeker,

In my despair that ne'er grew weaker,

By means of magic thought to start

In proud Nahina's icy heart

Of love for me at least a flicker.

Toward the murk of woodland free

My steps in hot impatience turning,

The subtle craft of wizardry

I spent unnumbered years in learning.

Then were the fearsome secrets, sought

By me with such despair, such yearning,

Revealed to my enlightened thought;

Of charms and spells I knew the power:

Love's aim achieved - happy hour!

'Nahina, thou art mine!' I cried.

'Now shall I have thee for my bride.'

But once again by fate defeated

Was I and of my triumph cheated.

"Enraptured, with young dreams aglow,

Filled with love's fervour and elation,

I loudly chant an incantation

And on dark spirits call, and lo!-