Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 3.

In the third canto we travel with Zophiel to the Palace of the Gnomes, there to seek the powerful elixir, a drop of which will give to Egla eternal life. With this precious drop enclosed in a crystal spar, he sets out with his guide, Phraerion, to return from the seadeeps to the earth's surface. They encounter a most violent submarine storm; the potent crystal drop which was to perpetuate the youth and beauty of Egla is lost, and Zophiel's daring quest is of no avail.

Canto fifth tells us of the hapless Zameia, whom Meles had wooed and won, and then heartlessly deserted. Zameia leaves her home to seek her faithless lover, and learns of his mysterious death as the bridegroom of Egla.

In the sixth and last canto we again find Egla in her acacia grove, and here in the solitude of the soft twilight, longing for the presence of Zophiel, she sings that song which Southey quotes with such delight in ‘The Doctor,’ claiming that ‘it is not only equal but superior to Sappho's famous Ode to Aphrodite.’

Day in melting purple dying,
Blossoms all around me sighing,
Fragrance from the lilies straying,
Zephyr with my ringlets playing,
Ye but waken my distress!
I am sick of loneliness.

Thou to whom I love to hearken,
Come ere night around me darken,
Though thy softness but deceive me,
Say thou'rt true, and I'll believe thee.
Veil, if ill, thy soul's intent:
Let me think it innocent!

Save thy toiling, spare thy treasure:
All I ask is friendship's pleasure:
Let the shining ore lie darkling;
Bring no gem in lustre sparkling;