Fain would the Knight in turn require The name and state of Ellen's sire.
Well showed the elder lady's mien That courts and cities she had seen;Ellen, though more her looks displayed The simple grace of sylvan maid, In speech and gesture, form and face, Showed she was come of gentle race.
'T were strange in ruder rank to find Such looks, such manners, and such mind.
Each hint the Knight of Snowdoun gave, Dame Margaret heard with silence grave;Or Ellen, innocently gay, Turned all inquiry light away:--'Weird women we! by dale and down We dwell, afar from tower and town.
We stem the flood, we ride the blast, On wandering knights our spells we cast;While viewless minstrels touch the string, 'Tis thus our charmed rhymes we sing.'
She sung, and still a harp unseen Filled up the symphony between.
