POLYCRATES AND THE RING.

In Samos' isle one summer's day, the king
Polycrates on saffron cushions lay,

And from his palace watched the waters fling
Their milk-white foam along the rocky bay.

Vassals of subject kings wait in the hall,

And finely-chiselled statues stand around, And countless slaves are at his beck and call, And low mellifluent strains of music sound.

Anon, the king saw on the golden strand
Among her maidens robed in virgin white,
His Queen, the fairest lady of the land,

And gazed upon her presence with delight.

And fell to musing, as he lay alone,

On days wherein he longed for her as wife. To share with him his glory and his throne, And light the lonely passage of his life.

He thought of that high feast at which he swore
By the broad brows of everlasting Jove,

That this fair wife, if won, he would adore
And worship, yea, with more than mortal love.

Whereon, loud thunder-peals were heard without
Rending the welkin; and the massive wood
In the huge rafters cracked; and with a shout
The people hailed these auguries of good.

And how he sent the queen his lover's-prayer,
How restless on his carven couch he lay,
Or clomb to his lone tower and waiting there,
Watched for his envoys through the live-long day,

How days passed by, till on an eve were seen
White wings of ships upon the crested foam ;
His heart foreboded that it was his queen
Coming to marriage, Samos, and her home.

That time had gone: fresh longing seized the king,
To own the choicest jewel in the land,
The priceless emerald in the priceless ring,

The skilful work of Samian Theodore's hand.

And lo! one morn came Theodore to the king,
And as a tribute to his lord he brought
The priceless emerald in the priceless ring:-
Thus wakeful Gods may hear the unspoken thought.

And ere the morrow's sun had yet gone down,

A tramp of men was heard about the port,

And swift-winged Rumour blazed through Juno's town, That king Amasis came with all his court,

To learn if sooth were said in distant lands,
That Gods give all Polycrates requires,
As if obsequious to his least demands,

And fortune grants his scarcely-framed desires.

And king Amasis long at Samos bode,

And saw the strange-bred herds, the pillared court
In Juno's temple, and the fleet that rode
At anchor safely in the spacious port.

One happy night it came in triumph home,
With shouts and coronals of Victory:
The Lesbian navy, scattered o'er the foam,
Had left the Samian masters of the sea.

At next eve's feast in honour of the fight,
Bards sang the Samian king in lofty strain,
"What islands had he conquered by his might,
What cities had he won beyond the main!"

And while they sang his glory and his fame

And how his works through boundless time should stand,

And how his children should uphold his name,
Far seen, like lofty towers o'er level land.

And while the royal company were glad,

And red wine foamed and jewelled beakers shone Amasis by his side sat pale and sad,

Then whispered leaning from his ivory throne:

"O King for fortune, in her wanton might
Sports a hard sport and whither she will go,
Or on whose shoulders next her honours light,
Or thine, or elsewhere, no man may foreknow.