Thomas Hood (1799–1845)

MOST delicate Ariel! submissive thing,

Won by the mind’s high magic to its hest,

Invisible embassy, or secret guest,

Weighing the light air on a lighter wing;—

Whether into the midnight moon, to bring

Illuminate visions to the eye of rest,

Or rich romances from the florid West,

Or to the sea, for mystic whispering,—

Still by thy charmed allegiance to the will,

The fruitful wishes prosper in the brain,

As by the fingering of fairy skill,—

Moonlight, and waters, and soft music’s strain,

Odors, and blooms, and my Miranda’s smile,

Making this dull world an enchanted isle.