There was the water gushing , the sand sparkling and the sunbeam glimmering . There the vision was not , but only a great frog , the hermit of that solitude , who immediately withdrew his speckled snout and made himself invisible -- all except a pair of long legs -- beneath a stone . Methought he had a devilish look . I could have slain him as an enchanter who kept the mysterious beauty imprisoned in the fountain . Sad and heavy , I was returning to the village . Between me and the church-spire rose a little hill , and on its summit a group of trees insulated from all the rest of the wood , with their own share of radiance hovering on them from the west and their own solitary shadow falling to the east . The afternoon being far declined , the sunshine was almost pensive and the shade almost cheerful ; glory and gloom were mingled in the placid light , as if the spirits of the Day and Evening had met in friendship under those trees and found themselves akin . I was admiring the picture when the shape of a young girl emerged from behind the clump of oaks . My heart knew her : it was the vision , but so distant and ethereal did she seem , so unmixed with earth , so imbued with the pensive glory of the spot where she was standing , that my spirit sunk within me , sadder than before . How could I ever reach her ? While I gazed a sudden shower came pattering down upon the leaves . In a moment the air was full of brightness , each raindrop catching a portion of sunlight as it fell , and the whole gentle shower appearing like a mist , just substantial enough to bear the burden of radiance . A rainbow vivid as Niagara 's was painted in the air . Its southern limb came down before the group of trees and enveloped the fair vision as if the hues of heaven were the only garment for her beauty . When the rainbow vanished , she who had seemed a part of it was no longer there . Was her existence absorbed in nature 's loveliest phenomenon , and did her pure frame dissolve away in the varied light ? Yet I would not despair of her return , for , robed in the rainbow , she was the emblem of Hope . Thus did the vision leave me , and many a doleful day succeeded to the parting moment . By the spring and in the wood and on the hill and through the village , at dewy sunrise , burning noon , and at that magic hour of sunset , when she had vanished from my sight , I sought her , but in vain . Weeks came and went , months rolled away , and she appeared not in them .
I imparted my mystery XXXXX none , but wandered to and fro or sat in solitude like one that had caught a glimpse of heaven and could take no more joy on earth .
In beneath of on than that through to upon with