A Forest Flute

I Heard a reed among the hills,     A woodland reed of music where,     Like madcap children, ran the rills,     Boisterous, with wildly flowing hair.     I knew it for a pipe the Spring     Tuned to the rapture in her heart,     That in the egg should shape the wing,     And in the seed the wildflower start.     And I I followed where it blew,     And found a valley, dim and green,     A wild spot, like a drop of dew,     Hung glimmeringly two hills between.     I heard the flute, a bird-like note,     That made the place a magic well,     On which enchantment seemed to float,     A spirit in a rainbow shell.     I knew what danced there with its flute,     Unseen, a part of soul and mind:     I saw the imprint of its foot,     In many a flower of orchis-kind.     I knew it of an ancient race,     Some myth the Greeks had known of old.     Could I have spoken it face to face     Of what lost dreams I might have told!