The Speeding Of The King's Spite

A king - estranged from his loving Queen         By a foolish royal whim -     Tired and sick of the dull routine         Of matters surrounding him -     Issued a mandate in this wise. -         "THE DOWER OF MY DAUGHTER'S HAND     I WILL GIVE TO HIM WHO HOLDS THIS PRIZE,         THE STRANGEST THING IN THE LAND."     But the King, sad sooth! in this grim decree         Had a motive low and mean; -     'Twas a royal piece of chicanery         To harry and spite the Queen;     For King though he was, and beyond compare,         He had ruled all things save one -     Then blamed the Queen that his only heir         Was a daughter - not a son.     The girl had grown, in the mother's care,         Like a bud in the shine and shower     That drinks of the wine of the balmy air         Till it blooms into matchless flower;     Her waist was the rose's stem that bore         The flower - and the flower's perfume -     That ripens on till it bulges o'er         With its wealth of bud and bloom.     And she had a lover - lowly sprung, -         But a purer, nobler heart     Never spake in a courtlier tongue         Or wooed with a dearer art:     And the fair pair paled at the King's decree;         But the smiling Fates contrived     To have them wed, in a secrecy         That the Queen HERSELF connived -     While the grim King's heralds scoured the land         And the countries roundabout,     Shouting aloud, at the King's command,         A challenge to knave or lout,     Prince or peasant, - "The mighty King         Would have ye understand     That he who shows him the strangest thing         Shall have his daughter's hand!"     And thousands flocked to the royal throne,         Bringing a thousand things     Strange and curious; - One, a bone -         The hinge of a fairy's wings;     And one, the glass of a mermaid queen,         Gemmed with a diamond dew,     Where, down in its reflex, dimly seen,         Her face smiled out at you.     One brought a cluster of some strange date,         With a subtle and searching tang     That seemed, as you tasted, to penetrate         The heart like a serpent's fang;     And back you fell for a spell entranced,         As cold as a corpse of stone,     And heard your brains, as they laughed and danced         And talked in an undertone.     One brought a bird that could whistle a tune         So piercingly pure and sweet,     That tears would fall from the eyes of the moon         In dewdrops at its feet;     And the winds would sigh at the sweet refrain,         Till they swooned in an ecstacy,     To waken again in a hurricane         Of riot and jubilee.     One brought a lute that was wrought of a shell         Luminous as the shine     Of a new-born star in a dewy dell, -         And its strings were strands of wine     That sprayed at the Fancy's touch and fused,         As your listening spirit leant     Drunken through with the airs that oozed         From the o'ersweet instrument.     One brought a tablet of ivory         Whereon no thing was writ, -     But, at night - and the dazzled eyes would see         Flickering lines o'er it, -     And each, as you read from the magic tome,         Lightened and died in flame,     And the memory held but a golden poem         Too beautiful to name.     Till it seemed all marvels that ever were known         Or dreamed of under the sun     Were brought and displayed at the royal throne,         And put by, one by one     Till a graybeard monster came to the King -         Haggard and wrinkled and old -     And spread to his gaze this wondrous thing, -         A gossamer veil of gold. -     Strangely marvelous - mocking the gaze         Like a tangle of bright sunshine,     Dipping a million glittering rays         In a baptism divine:     And a maiden, sheened in this gauze attire -         Sifting a glance of her eye -     Dazzled men's souls with a fierce desire         To kiss and caress her and - die.     And the grim King swore by his royal beard         That the veil had won the prize,     While the gray old monster blinked and leered         With his lashless, red-rimmed eyes,     As the fainting form of the princess fell,         And the mother's heart went wild,     Throbbing and swelling a muffled knell         For the dead hopes of her child.     But her clouded face with a faint smile shone,         As suddenly, through the throng,     Pushing his way to the royal throne,         A fair youth strode along,     While a strange smile hovered about his eyes,         As he said to the grim old King: -     "The veil of gold must lose the prize;         For I have a stranger thing."     He bent and whispered a sentence brief;         But the monarch shook his head,     With a look expressive of unbelief -         "It can't be so," he said;     "Or give me proof; and I, the King,         Give you my daughter's hand, -     For certes THAT IS a stranger thing -         THE STRANGEST THING IN THE LAND!"     Then the fair youth, turning, caught the Queen         In a rapturous caress,     While his lithe form towered in lordly mien,         As he said in a brief address: -     "My fair bride's mother is this; and, lo,         As you stare in your royal awe,     By this pure kiss do I proudly show         A LOVE FOR A MOTHER-IN-LAW!"     Then a thaw set in the old King's mood,         And a sweet Spring freshet came     Into his eyes, and his heart renewed         Its love for the favored dame:     But often he has been heard to declare         That "he never could clearly see     How, in the deuce, such a strange affair         Could have ended so happily!"