Had I created her ? Was she the daughter of my fancy , akin to those strange shapes which peep under the lids of children 's eyes ? And did her beauty gladden me for that one moment and then die ? Or was she a water-nymph within the fountain , or fairy or woodland goddess peeping over my shoulder , or the ghost of some forsaken maid who had drowned herself for love ? Or , in good truth , had a lovely girl with a warm heart and lips that would bear pressure stolen softly behind me and thrown her image into the spring ? I watched and waited , but no vision came again . I departed , but with a spell upon me which drew me back that same afternoon to the haunted spring . 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 XXXXX trees and enveloped the fair vision as if the hues of heaven were the only garment for her beauty .
In While behind beneath for of than that to under