While The Musician Played

O it was but a dream I had While the musician played!-- And here the sky, and here the glad Old ocean kissed the glade-- And here the laughing ripples ran, And here the roses grew That threw a kiss to every man That voyaged with the crew. Our silken sails in lazy folds Drooped in the breathless breeze: As o'er a field of marigolds Our eyes swam o'er the seas; While here the eddies lisped and purled Around the island's rim, And up from out the underworld We saw the mermen swim. And it was dawn and middle-day And midnight--for the moon On silver rounds across the bay Had climbed the skies of June-- And there the glowing, glorious king Of day ruled o'er his realm, With stars of midnight glittering About his diadem. The seagull reeled on languid wing In circles round the mast, We heard the songs the sirens sing As we went sailing past; And up and down the golden sands A thousand fairy throngs Flung at us from their flashing hands The echoes of their songs. O it was but a dream I had While the musician played-- For here the sky, and here the glad Old ocean kissed the glade; And here the laughing ripples ran, And here the roses grew That threw a kiss to every man That voyaged with the crew.