Из "Романса о короле Орфео", воспр. в "Волшебные сказки, легенды и романы в творчестве Шекспира", У.К.Хэзлитт, 1875 [WCH_TROKO] pp. 87-8). Мерудис (Эвридика) говорит:
| Whe(n) I gan my-selve awake, Ruly chere I gaɳ to make, Fore I saw a sembly syʒt; To-werd me come a gentyll knyʒt, Wele i-armyd at all ryʒht, And bad I schuld upoɳ hyʒeng, Come speke with hys lord the kyng. I ansuerd hym with wordes bold; I seyd, I durst not ne not I wold. The knyʒht aʒen he rode full fast, Than come ther kyng at the last, And an hundreth lade's and mo, All theu ryden on whyte stedes, Of mylke whyte was all ther wedes, I saw never, seth I was borne, So feyre creatours here be-forne. The kyng had a crouɳe on hys hede, It was no sylver ne gold rede, It was all off presyous stone, Als bryʒt as any soɳ it shone! Also sone as he to me come, Whether I wold ore not, up he me name, And made me with hym forto ryde Upon a stede by hys syde; He brovʒt me to a feyre palas, Wele tyred and rychly in all case; And hys hey haules and boures, Forestes, ryvers, frutes and floures; Hys grete stedes shewyd me ichone, And sethyn he made me aʒene to gone Into the sted where he me fette, In that same sted ther he me sete, And seyd, `Madame, loke that thou be To-morrow here under this tre, And than schall thou with us go, And lyve with us ever-more so; Iff that thou make us any lete, Where-ever thou be, thou schall be fete, And to-torne thi lymys all, No thyng helpe the ne schall! And thoʒ thou be all to-torne, ʒit shall thou a-wey with us to be borne!' |
В этом отрывке буква ʒ произносится по-разному: в начале слова она звучит как "y", в середине – как "ch" или "gh", в конце – как "z".
Из Романа о "Томасе и Королеве Эльфов", [WCH_TROKO] pp. 104-5, 107
| Hir palfray was of dappulle gray, Sike on se I never non, As dose the sune on somers day, The cumly lady hirselfe schone; Hir sadille was of reuylle bone, Semely was that sight to se, Stifly sette with precious stone, Compaste aboute with crapoté; Stonys of oryons gret plenté, Hir here aboute hir hede hit hong; She rode out over that lovely le, A-while she blew, a-while she song. Hir garthes of nobulle silke thei were, Hir boculs thei were of barys stone; His stirropis thei were of cristalle clere, And alle with perry aboute be-gon; Hir paytrelle was of a rialle fyne, Hir cropur was of arafé, Hir bridulle was of golde fyne, On every side hong bellis thre. She led iij grehoundis in a leesshe, viij rachis be hir fete ran, To speke with hir wold I not seese, Hir lire was white as any swan; She bare a horn about hir halce, And undur hir gyrdille mony flonne; For sothe, lordynges, as I yow telle, Thus was the lady fayre be-gon.6 |
После того, как герой сошелся с ней, она превратилась в ужасную ведьму:
| Thomas stondand in that sted, And beheld that lady gay, Hir here that hong upon hir hed, Hir een semyd out that were so gray; And alle hir clothis were away, That here before saw in that stede, The to shanke was blak, the tother gray, The body bloo as beton leed! Thomas seid, 'alas! alas! In feith, this is a dolfulle sight! That thou art so fadut in the face, That before shone as sunne bright!' Take thi leve, Thomas, at sune and mone, And also at levys of eldryne tre: This twelmond shall thou with me gon, That mydul-erth thou shalt not se.' |
Следующие эльфы начала XIX века происходят из шекспировской и херриковской традиции: [GD_SOTMQ], Акт IV, сц. v, pp. 137-8.
| Hurrah! the bluff-cheek'd bugle band, Each with a loud reed in his hand! Hurrah! the pattering company, Each with a drum-bell at his knee! Hurrah! the sash-capt cymbal-swingers! Hurrah! the klingle-klangle ringers! Hurrah! Hurrah! the elf-knights enter, Each with his grasshopper at a canter! His tough spear of a wild oat made, His good sword of a grassy blade, His buckram suit of shining laurel, His shield of bark, emboss'd with coral; See how the plumy champion keeps His proud steed clambering on his hips, With foaming jaw pinn'd to his breast, Blood-rolling eyes, and arched crest; Over his and his rider's head A broad-sheet butterfly banner spread, Swoops round the staff in varying form, Flouts the soft breeze, but courts the storm. |
"Из Прошения Эльфов в день Летнего Солнцестояния" ([TH_POTMF] vol. V., pp. 213-51).
| 'Oh these be Fancy's revellers by night! Stealthy companions of the downy moth – Diana's motes, that flit in her pale light, Shunners of sunbeams in diurnal sloth; – These be the feasters on night's silver cloth; – The gnat with shrilly trump is their convener, Forth from their flowery chambers, nothing loth, With lulling tunes to charm the air serener, Or dance upon the grass to make it greener... |
| ... 'These be the pretty genii of the flow'rs, Daintily fed with honey and pure dew – Midsummer's phantoms in her dreaming hours, King Oberon, and all his merry crew; The darling puppets of Romance's view; Fairies, and sprites, and goblin elves we call them, Famous for patronage of lovers true; – No harm they act, neither shall harm befall them, So do not thus with crabbed frowns appal them.' |
| 'Alas!' quoth Puck, 'a little random elf, Born in the sport of nature, like a weed, For simple swet enjoyment of myself, But for no other purpose, worth, or need; And yet withal of a most happy breed; And there is Robin Goodfellow besides, My partner dear on many a prankish deed To make dame Laughter hold her jolly sides, Like merry mummers twain on holy tides.' |
{[AT_TWO] p. 81 'Walking to the Mail'}:
| ... But his house, for so they say, Was haunted with a jolly ghost, that shook The curtains, whined in lobbies, tapt at doors, And rummaged like a rat; no servant stay'd: The farmer vext packs up his beds and chairs, And all his household stuff; and with his boy Betwixt his knees, his wife upon the tilt, Sets out and meets a friends who hails him, 'What! You're flitting!' 'Yes, we're flitting,' says the ghost (For they had packed the thing among the beds,) 'Oh well,' says, he, 'you flitting with us too – Jack, turn the horses' heads and home again.' |
Ч. М. Дафти в своей любопытной драматической поэме "Утесы", опубликованной в 1909, использовал эльфов странным образом. Поэма эта полна аллюзий и архаизмов, но в целом ее никоим образом нельзя назвать плагиатом. В Части IV, стр. 188-9, старый эльф Хаут со своеобразным пафосом описывает краткую продолжительность жизни, отпущенной эльфам. Хаут разграничивает три возраста эльфов, три пятерки лет: почка, зеленый лист и увядший лист,
| 'And when twice hundred, of the Moon's round years, Are hardly, full of changes, o'er us passed; Us rest few frozen days and weary nights.' |
"И едва две сотни полных лунных лет, Пронесутся над нами, полные перемен; Нам остается лишь немного холодных дней и тягостных ночей." |
Он описывает эльфийские похороны – как сыновья выносят своего отца в вывернутом наизнанку камзоле и заклинают кротов и дождевых червей, чтобы те не тревожили могилу. Затем они трижды выкликают имя покойного эльфа и идут домой, чтобы разделить между собой его инструменты и домашнюю утварь. Эти детали не согласуются с основной линией традиции, но несут в себе элемент повседневной обыденности, который поражает наше воображение. И в самом деле, хотя эльфы живут долго, почти вечно, мы то и дело встречаемся с эльфийскими похоронами.