Beauties That The Earth Hath Lost

“Fancy, high-commision’d:-send her!
…She will bring, in spite of frost,
Beauties that the earth hath lost.”
--Keats, “Realm of Fancy,” l. 27, 29-30

O, beauties that the earth hath lost,
Hear and heed my prayer!
Return to us, O sprite and ghost,
O Host and Folk of Air!
Return to us, O unicorn,
And faerie sweet and fair!
(There was no child ever born
Who made not this prayer).

O, beauties that the earth hath lost,
O dancing mermaid divine,
O flower-fairy that outlives not the frost,
O leprechaun drunk on wine!
O Sidhe-maid of wild hair,
O fruit of elven vine!
(There are, some say, no more there,
No step between man and divine).

O, beauties that the earth hath lost,
O pegasus on the wing,
O lyon in secret cavern mossed,
O siren’s voice a-sing!
O Scylla in her wavy pool
With Charybdis waiting!
(Fate and time can both be cruel;
Perhaps they have taken wing).

O, beauties that the earth hath lost,
Bring to them my prayer!
Let it cross the gulf that they have crossed,
And beat in the foreign air
And bring them back across the dark,
Back to the earth that they made fair!
(Bring back to us creation’s spark;
Bring back what answers prayer).

O, beauties that the earth hath lost,
Return to us! For we die,
And fade away, our spirits lost,
If ye and yours pass not by!
Return to us, reverse your flight,
On brilliant wings now fly!
(To my eyes I pray there comes the sight
Of a dragon before I die).