Suspended, ere it fell, a nation's breath;

"Of witches' dance, ghastly with whinings thin,
And palsied nods--mirth, wicked, sad, and weak;
And then with show of skill mechanical,
Marvellous as witchcraft he would overthrow
That vision with a show'r of notes like hail;
Flashing the sharp tones now,
In downward leaps like swords; now rising fine
Into some utmost tip of minute sound,
From whence he stepp'd into a higher and higher
On viewless points, till laugh took leave of him.

"Then from one chord of his amazing shell
Would he fetch out the voice of quires, and weight
Of the built organ; or some twofold strain
Moving before him like some sweet-going yoke,
Ride like an Eastern conqueror, round whose state
Some light Morisco leaps with his guitar;
And ever and anon o'er these he'd throw
Jets of small notes like pearl."




CHAPTER V.

1800 TO 1830.