Sonnet III On Robin Hood

With coat of Lincoln green and mantle too,

And horn of ivory mouth, and buckle bright,

And arrows wing'd with peacock-feathers light,

And trusty bow well gather'd of the yew,--Stands Robin Hood: -- and near, with eyes of

Shining through dusk hair, like the stars of night,

A habited in pretty forest plight,--His green-wood beauty sits, young as the dew.

Oh gentle-tressed girl!  Maid Marian!

Are thine eyes bent upon the gallant

That stray in the merry Sherwood: thy sweet

Can never, never die.  And thou, high man,

Would we might pledge thee with thy silver

Of Rhenish, in the woods of Nottingham!

Sonnet 3. of 3, printed in "The Garden Of Florence" &c., 1821.