A moment, and its lustre fell; But ere it met the billow blue, He caught within his crimson bell A droplet of its sparkling dew -- Joy to thee. Fay! thy task is done; Thy wings are pure, for the gem is won. Cheerily ply thy dripping oar, And haste away to the elfin shore.

It was once the fashion among admirers of Drake's dainty work to ])lace the author upon a somewhat dizzy pedestal. More than one has compared the hvely trochaic tetrameter that concludes The Culprit

26o The Hudson River

Fay with Milton's U allegro, which was unquestionably its inspiration. This is Drake's: Ouphe and goblin, imp and sprite, Elf of eve and starry Fay, Ye that love the moon's soft light Hither -- hither wend your way: Twine ye in a jocund ring. Sing and trip it merrily, Hand to hand and wing to wing, Round the wild witch-hazel tree.

Now turn to Milton and read

Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee Jest and youthful Jollity, Quips and cranks and wanton wiles. Nods and becks and wreathed smiles, Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, And love to live in dimple sleek : Sport that wrinkled care derides. And Laughter holding both his sides. Come, and trip it as you go On the light fantastic toe.

I die wild was the home of N. P. WilHs, that versatile worker, idler, flaneur, poet, city dandy, and country gentleman, who made no deep impression by his literarv labours, but is nevertheless vividly remembered when many a man of greater power is forgotten. General James Grant Wilson wTote, in 1886, in a reminiscent vein, of a visit to the scene of the poet's retirement at Cornwall, where he was trying to recuperate the strength of which he had been, from his youth up, somewhat of a spendthrift: