The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-03-28

He had no sweetheart. for he was 100
much in love with the muse. But it
was because he was unable to finish
Il Toem which he had begun the day
before the wicked fairy had accom-
plished her vengeance. And why?
Because it just happened that the
poem was to Wind up with Il love
YOU" and it was impossible to end
it in any other way.
The poet struck his brow, took his
head between his hands, and asked
himself: Have I gone mad?" He was
certain. however. that he had found
the words that were to precede the
last point of exclamation before he
had commenced to write the stanza.
The proof that he hat found these
words was that the rhyme with which
they were to go. and which was al
ready written, waited for them-nay.
called aloud for them, ard did not want
any others, like lips that wait for Sis
ter lips to kiss them. And this indis-
! pensable, fatal phrase he had for
gotten; he did not ven recall that he
| had ever known it! Surely there was
| some mystery in this, unused the poet
| INCREASINGLY, with q bitter melancholy
oh. the pang of interrupted poems!
sitting at the edge of the forest
neal the limpid fountains where the
fairies have the habit Of dancing of an
evening in the light of the stars.
".
Now as he sat once musing under
the boughs of a tree, the wicked. thiev-
ing fairy saw him and loved him.
One is not a fairy for nothing, and a
fairy does not stand on ceremony.
Swifter than q butterfly kisses a rose
she put her lips upon his lips, and the
poet, greatly occupied though he was
with his ode, could not help but feel
the heavenliness of her career. Blue
and rose diamond grottoes opened up
in the depths of the earth, gardens OF
lilies spread out there, luminous rs
the stars; thither the poet and the
. fairy were drawn in q chariot of gold
in their flight; and for a very long
time they loved each other, forgetful of
all but their kisses and smiles.
Gnomes dressed in violet satin. elves
attired in q misty haze. performed
dances before them that fell in rhythm
with the music of unseen orchestras,
while fitting hands that had no arms
brought them ruby baskets Of snow
white fruit. perfumed like a white
rose and like a virgin bosom. Or, to
please the fairy more, the poet recited.
while the cords of a theorbo, the most
beautiful verses his fancy could con-
ceive.
90 Fairy that she was. she had never
known joy comparable to this of be-
ing sung TO by a beautiful young man
who invented new songs every day,
and when he grew silent and she felt
the breath of his mouth very near her.
passing through her hair. b melted
away with tenderness.
Their happiness seemed to be With
out end. Days passed by, many,
many, days, but nothing occurred to
disturb their joy. Nevertheless, she
had moments Of gloom, when she
would sit musing, with her cheek on
her hand and her hair falling down In
streams to her hips.
80 queen" he cried, what is it
that makes you sad, and what more
can you desire, seeing that we are so
happy in the midst Of all our pleas
ures, you who are all powerful, you
who are so beautiful?" She did not
answer at first. but when he insisted
she sighed and said: alas! n al
ways ends by suffering the evil that
one has inflicted on others. Alas! am
sad because you have never told me:
I love your" .
He did not pronounce the words,
but he uttered a cry of joy at having.
found again the end of his poem. In;
vain the fairy attempted to retain,
him in the hlne and rose-diamond grotj
toes, in the gardens Of lilies that were.
as luminous as the stars. He returned
to earth. completed, wrote and pub
lished his ode, in which the men and
women of the afflicted country found
again the divine words that they had
lost.
Now there were ~rendezvouses again
in the lanes, and warm, loving con-
versations at the conjugal windows. !,
1t is because Of poetry that the
kisses are sweet, and lovers say moth
ing that the poets have not sung
=.