34
MAZEPPA.
“And onward, onward, onward, seems
“Like precipices in our dreams,
“To stretch beyond the sight;
“And here and there a speck of white,610
“Or scatter’d spot of dusky green,
“In masses broke into the light,
“As rose the moon upon my right.
“But nought distinctly seen
“In the dim waste, would indicate
“The omen of a cottage gate;
“No twinkling taper from afar
“Stood like an hospitable star;
“Not even an ignis-fatuus rose
“To make him merry with my woes:620
“That very cheat had cheer’d me then!
“Although detected, welcome still,
“Reminding me, through every ill,
“Of the abodes of men.
XVI.
“Onward we went—but slack and slow;
