PRELUDE.
Reading edition
HIS story of the sea, Full of weird mystery, ’Twere vain to tell to thee ’Mid dusty lore I found it! You still might doubt its truth,— The truest tale, in sooth, (Such as Boaz and Ruth) Has gathered skeptics round it! Yet, should you deign to read Where’er the Muse may lead, The tale, as you proceed, Will wake some tender feeling, Till, like a pleasant dream, The Corsair’s Maid will seem To throw a hallowed beam Where phantom-shades were stealing!
