MEN are Heaven’s piers; they evermore

Unwearying bear the skyey floor;

Man’s theatre they bear with ease,

Unfrowning cariatides!

I, for my wife, the sun uphold,

Or, dozing, strike the seasons cold.

She, on her side, in fairy-wise

Deals in diviner mysteries,

By spells to make the fuel burn

And keep the parlour warm, to turn

Water to wine, and stones to bread,

By her unconquered hero-head.

A naked Adam, naked Eve,

Alone the primal bower we weave;

Sequestered in the seas of life,

A Crusoe couple, man and wife,

With all our good, with all our will,

Our unfre............