MDDM ch. 68 "yet these do live..." (660.20)

[Bandwraith at aol.com]

Elves, yes. Deceitful lot:


                       Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
                         To toil me back from thee to my sole self!
                       Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well
                         As she is fam’d to do, deceiving elf.
                       Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades
                                                                              
               
                         Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
                           Up the hill-side; and now ’tis buried deep
                                 In the next valley-glades:

http://www.bartleby.com/126/40.html

Keats got it right. didn't he? It's only art, after all.
(But we like it, yes we do!) So invoking Prospero does 
seem to make some sense. Although, I doubt that Ariel's
viewless wings could be brought to a standstill by 
anything as contrived as a decoy on a line. And yet...

In a message dated 8/6/02 3:46:52 AM, jbor at bigpond.com writes:

<< I agree, and Immanuel's reference to the place being "an Elves' Treasury"
links back to the farmers' "look of serious Elves" (656.25) beside their
giant produce. Recall that the farm of the giant vegetables lies "West of
Cheat" (656.2) and Mr Ice ferries them across the Youghiogheny, which is
east of the River Cheat (I think). So, it appears that Ch. 68 occurs before
the visit to the "Gardens Titanick" which ends Ch. 67. I'd say that Immanuel
Ice is a member of the same community of settlers as the tenant farmers.
 >>