Nature

These Be the Adept's Doctrines

by Sir Walter Scott 1771–1832

From Songs from the Waverley Novels (Poetical Works, Oxford 1904)

Nature

THESE be the adept's doctrines -- every element
Is peopled with its separate race of spirits :
The airy Sylphs on the blue ether float;
Deep in the earthy cavern skulks the Gnome ;
The sea-green Naiad skims the ocean-billow ;
And the fierce fire is yet a friendly home
To its peculiar sprite, the Salamander.

✦ ✦ ✦

From Anne of Geierstein (1829)

MLA

Scott, Walter. “These Be the Adept's Doctrines.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/scott/285/.

Chicago

Scott, Walter. “These Be the Adept's Doctrines.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/scott/285/.

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