ENGLISH NARRATIVE POEMS

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A Series of English Texts, edited for use in Elementary and Secondary Schools, with Critical Introductions, Notes, etc.

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Addison's Sir Roger de Coverley Andersen's Fairy Tales Arabian Nights' Entertainments Arnold's Sohrab and Rustum Austen's Pride and Prejudice Bacon's Essays Bible (Memorable Passages from) Blackmore's Lorna Doone Browning's Shorter Poems Browning, Mrs., Poems (Selected) Bryant's Thanatopsis, etc Bulwer's Last Days of Pompeii Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress Burke's Speech on Conciliation Burns' Poems (Selections from) Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Byron's Shorter Poems Carlyle's Essay on Burns Carlyle's Heroes and Hero Worship Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Illustrated) Chaucer's Prologue and Knight's Tale Church's The Story of the Iliad Church's The Story of the Odyssey Coleridge's The Ancient Mariner Cooper's The Deerslayer Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans Cooper's The Spy Dana's Two Years Before the Mast Defoe's Robinson Crusoe De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater De Quincey's Joan of Arc, and The English Mail-Coach Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and The Cricket on the Hearth Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities Dryden's Palamon and Arcite Early American Orations, 1760-1824 Edwards' (Jonathan) Sermons Eliot's Silas Marner Emerson's Essays Emerson's Early Poems Emerson's Representative Men English Narrative Poems Epoch-making Papers in U. S. History Franklin's Autobiography Gaskell's Cranford Goldsmith's The Deserted Village, She Stoops to Conquer, and The Good-natured Man Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield Gray's Elegy, etc., and Cowper's John Gilpin, etc Grimm's Fairy Tales Hawthorne's Grandfather's Chair Hawthorne's Mosses from an Old Manse Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables Hawthorne's Twice-told Tales (Selections from) Hawthorne's Wonder-Book Holmes' Poems Homer's Iliad (Translated) Homer's Odyssey (Translated) Hughes' Tom Brown's School Days Huxley's Autobiography and Lay Sermons Irving's Life of Goldsmith Irving's Knickerbocker Irving's The Alhambra Irving's Sketch Book Irving's Tales of a Traveller Keary's Heroes of Asgard Kingsley's The Heroes Lamb's The Essays of Elia Lincoln's Inaugurals and Speeches Longfellow's Evangeline Longfellow's Hiawatha Longfellow's Miles Standish Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn Lowell's The Vision of Sir Launfal Macaulay's Essay on Addison Macaulay's Essay on Hastings Macaulay's Essay on Lord Clive Macaulay's Essay on Milton Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome Macaulay's Life of Samuel Johnson Milton's Comus and Other Poems Malory's Le Morte Darthur Milton's Paradise Lost, Books I. and II Old English Ballads Old Testament (Selections from) Out of the Northland Palgrave's Golden Treasury Parkman's Oregon Trail Plutarch's Lives (Cæsar, Brutus, and Mark Antony) Poe's Poems Poe's Prose Tales (Selections from) Pope's Homer's Iliad Pope's The Rape of the Lock Ruskin's Sesame and Lilies Ruskin's The Crown of Wild Olive and Queen of the Air Scott's Ivanhoe Scott's Kenilworth Scott's Lady of the Lake Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel Scott's Marmion Scott's Quentin Durward Scott's The Talisman Shakespeare's As You Like It Shakespeare's Hamlet Shakespeare's Henry V Shakespeare's Julius Cæsar Shakespeare's King Lear Shakespeare's Macbeth Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice Shakespeare's Richard II Shakespeare's The Tempest Shakespeare's Twelfth Night Shelley and Keats: Poems Sheridan's The Rivals and The School for Scandal Southern Poets: Selections Southern Orators: Selections Spenser's Faerie Queene, Book I Stevenson's Kidnapped Stevenson's The Master of Ballantrae Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey, and An Inland Voyage Stevenson's Treasure Island Swift's Gulliver's Travels Tennyson's Idylls of the King Tennyson's The Princess Tennyson's Shorter Poems Thackeray's English Humourists Thackeray's Henry Esmond Thoreau's Walden Virgil's Æneid Washington's Farewell Address, and Webster's First Bunker Hill Oration Whittier's Snow-Bound and Other Early Poems Woolman's Journal Wordsworth's Shorter Poems

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ENGLISH NARRATIVE POEMS

SELECTED AND EDITED
BY

CLAUDE M. FUESS

AND

HENRY N. SANBORN

INSTRUCTORS IN ENGLISH IN PHILLIPS ACADEMY
ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS

New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1911

All rights reserved

Copyright, 1909,

By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.

Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1909.
Reprinted June, 1910; June, 1911.

Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Narrative poetry is distinguished from other types of verse in that it aims to relate a connected series of events and, therefore, deals primarily with actions, rather than with thoughts or emotions. This definition, however, simple as it appears to be in theory, is often difficult to apply as a test because other matter is blended with the pure narrative. In any story where the situation is made prominent, description may be required to make clear the scene and explain movements to the reader; thus Enoch Arden begins with a word picture of a sea-coast town. Again it is often necessary to analyze the motives which actuate certain characters, and so it becomes necessary to introduce exposition of some sort into the plot. The poems in this collection serve to enforce the lesson that the four standard rhetorical forms—narration, description, exposition, and argumentation—are constantly being combined and welded in a complicated way. In cases where these various literary elements are apparently in a tangle, a classification, if it be made at all, must be based on the design of the poem as a whole, and the emphasis and proportion given to the respective elements by the author. If the stress is laid on the recounting of the events which make up a unified action, and if the other factors are made subordinate and subsidiary to this end, then the poem in question belongs to the narrative group.

The antiquity of the narrative as a form of literature is undisputed. Indeed it has been established with a reasonable degree of certainty that poetry in its very beginnings was narrative and in its primitive state must have been a sort of rude, rhythmical chant, originated and participated in by the tribe as a whole, and telling of the exploits of gods or legendary heroes. In the course of time there arose the minstrel, who, acting first as chorus leader, became eventually the representative of the tribe and its own special singer. When we reach a somewhat more advanced stage of civilization, we find regularly appointed bards reciting their lays in the hall of the chieftain or urging on the warriors to battle with rehearsals of past victories. Originally these bards simply repeated the old oral traditions handed down as common property, but the opportunity for the display of individual genius soon induced them to try variations on the current themes and to compose versions of their own. With this advance of individualism, poetry became gradually more complex. Various elements, lyrical, descriptive, and dramatic, assumed some prominence and tended to develop separate forms. This differentiation, however, did not impair the vigor of the story-telling spirit, and a constant succession of narrative poems down to the present day evidences how productive and characteristic a feature of our literature this form has been.

Obviously it is impracticable to undertake here even a brief summary of the history of English narrative poetry and of the influences to which it has been responsive. Something may, nevertheless, be done to map out roughly a few divisions which may be of assistance in bringing this material into orderly shape for the student. Many efforts at systematic classification have been made, and a few fairly well-marked types have been defined. In spite of this fact, the task still presents insuperable obstacles over which there has been futile controversy. One type is likely to run into another in a way which is uncomfortably baffling. Then there are numerous nondescript works whose proper place seems determinable by no law of poetics. The fact is that, here at least, narrow distinctions are bound to be unsatisfactory. The critic finds it imperative to avoid dogmatism lest he lay himself open to attack; his only refuge is in the general statement which may be suggestive even if it is not exact.

Of the fixed types, two of the best known, the Epic and the Ballad, were among the earliest to be created. The Epic in its original form was a long poem of uniform metre, serious in tone and elevated in style, introducing supernatural or heroic characters and usually dealing with some significant event in racial or national history. In its first or primitive shape it was anonymous, a spontaneous outgrowth of popular feeling, though perhaps arranged and revised at a later date by some conscious artistic hand. Such a primitive Epic is the old English Beowulf: it is thoroughly objective; in it no clew to definite authorship can be detected; in it personality is buried in the rush of incident and the clash of action. When, with the broadening of the scope of poetry, the individual writer displaced the tribe as the preserver of folk-lore, the new order of things evolved the so-called artificial Epic as represented by Milton's Paradise Lost. Here the conventional Epic style and material is kept; the universe is the stage, and the figures upon it are imposing and grand; but behind the poem is a single personality whose mood colors and modifies the whole. The Epic is no longer entirely racial or national, but individual; and we have the introduction of such passages as Milton's reference to his own blindness in Book Three.

Akin to the Epic is the Mock Epic, which appropriates the Epic machinery and Epic style to use them in dealing with trivialities. In Pope's The Rape of the Lock, the most artistic Mock Epic in English, the theft of a single lock of hair becomes an act of national and supernatural interest and a game of cards is described as if it were a mighty battle.

Almost parallel with and closely resembling the development of the Epic is that of the Ballad. Like the primitive Epic in anonymity and impersonality, the Ballad was much shorter, had rime and stanzas, and dealt, as a rule, with incidents of less importance. Not so formal or pretentious as the Epic, it was easily memorized even by the peasant, and handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. Favorite subjects were the legends of Robin Hood, the misfortunes of nobles, and the incidents of Border warfare. Mixed in many of them was a tendency toward superstition, a survival of the belief in ghosts, magicians, and talking animals. Numerous examples gathered by antiquaries may be found in the edition of old English Ballads in this series; among the better known are The Wife of Usher's Well and Chevy Chase. Later poets naturally adapted the Ballad form to their own uses, and so we have the artificial Ballad, illustrated by Cowper's The History of John Gilpin, Longfellow's The Wreck of the Hesperus, and Swinburne's May Janet. In these poems many of the trite expressions so peculiar to the primitive Ballad are retained; but, like the artificial Epic, the work is no longer communal, but individual, in origin and bears the stamp of one mind animated by an artistic purpose.

In discussing the Epic and the Ballad one is on fairly safe ground, but between these types one finds a vast amount of poetry, evidently narrative, which suggests perplexing problems. Much of it may be made to come under what we term loosely the Metrical Romance. This title is often narrowed by scholars to apply strictly to a poetical genre, arising in the Middle Ages and brought into England by the Norman-French, which deals in a rambling way with the marvellous adventures of wandering knights or heroes. Its plot, in which love and combat are conspicuous features, is enveloped in a kind of glamour, an atmosphere of unreality. It drew its material from many diverse sources: from the legends of Troy and the stories of classical and Oriental antiquity; from the tales of the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne and his paladins; from the Celtic accounts of King Arthur and the Table Round. Since its characters, sometimes not without anachronism, embodied the chivalric ideals of courtesy and loyalty to ladies, hatred of paganism, and general conduct according to a prescribed but unwritten code, its appeal was made for the most part to the courtier and the aristocrat,—though it must be added that many of the robuster Charlemagne romances acquired currency with the humbler classes and were sung in the cottage of the peasant. The fact that the greater number of these Metrical Romances were mere redactions, taken from foreign models, makes them seem deficient in English interest. Still, several of the best were of native composition, an excellent example being the well-known Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight.

But even in spite of a few slight advantages to be gained, it seems unwise to restrict the Metrical Romance too closely. What we are accustomed to call, rather vaguely, romance is a persistent quality in narrative poetry, and is not limited to the literature of any particular age or rank of society. A cursory examination will disclose many evidences of the romantic spirit in both the Epic and the Ballad. And certainly Scott's The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Keats's The Eve of St. Agnes, Longfellow's Evangeline, and many other poems on similar themes must remain unclassified unless we designate them broadly as Metrical Romances. Of course, it is not essential that they should be pigeon-holed and put away with the right label affixed. However, one or two observations on the subject-matter with which works of this nature deal may assist us in avoiding embarrassing confusion. Sometimes the Metrical Romance (using the term in its broader sense) deals with authenticated incidents of history. In such cases, the narrative, founded as it is on matters of fact, is compelled to preserve substantial accuracy with regard to the events which it uses for a structure. The fancy is thus partly curbed through the necessity of not departing radically from the truth. This restraint, logically enough, does not prevent the introduction of fictitious characters or episodes; but in the strict historical poem, as in the historical novel, it does require adherence to chronology and a just representation of the period in which the action takes place. Occasionally this form approaches a poetical paraphrase, as in Rossetti's The White Ship. The nineteenth century was singularly prolific in works of this sort; notable among such works are Scott's Marmion, Tennyson's The Revenge, and Longfellow's Paul Revere's Ride. If the basis of the poem is mythological, we have a further species of the Metrical Romance. The stories clustered around the gods and goddesses of unsophisticated peoples are perennially attractive and offer a fruitful field to the poet. In the setting there is frequent opportunity for elaborate description, and there is often, as in Tennyson's Œnone and William Morris's Atalanta's Race, ornamentation used by the author that is more than ordinarily remarkable. For such poetry the Greek and Latin writers furnish a wealth of material for imitation. Nor have the myths of other races been neglected in recent years. Matthew Arnold's Balder Dead has its inspiration in the Norse Eddas and has its opening scene in Valhalla where Odin, father of the gods, presides over the immortals. William Morris's Sigurd the Volsing is an adaptation of the myths of the early Germans.

It is not aside from the point to refer here to the few poems in which the subject-matter of the Metrical Romance is used, strangely enough, as a means of teaching moral ideas. Spenser's Faerie Queene presents such an anomaly. In it conventional chivalric heroes undergo surprising and impossible adventures, battling and loving as in the legends of Charlemagne and Arthur. Indeed, in the Faerie Queene, Arthur himself appears as the protagonist. But these knights and ladies are, we learn, merely animated vices and virtues and are such, because, as Spenser takes pains to tell us, the poem, though romantic in mood, is allegorical in intention, its aim being "to fashion a gentleman or noble person in vertuous and gentle discipline." The author in using his characters as agents of moral instruction creates a type as much by itself as Pilgrim's Progress is in prose. Modern examples less conspicuous for visible allegorical intention are Tennyson's Idylls of the King, in which Arthurian material is once more revived with something of an ethical purpose.

There is still to be taken up a large body of poems, usually, though not always, shorter than the Metrical Romances, which deal with the situations of common life and with the humbler members of society. By some authorities the term Metrical Tale has been applied to such compositions; though it is hardly exact or specific, since the word "tale" is usually made synonymous with "story" and therefore does not connote a limited subject-matter. We may accept it in a provisional way as a convenient technical term for our purposes. The Metrical Tale, then, as contrasted with the Metrical Romance, attempts a realistic portrayal of the natural sorrows, losses, or pains which belong to our everyday experience. The emotions of which it treats are fundamentally strong and keep the style and versification from becoming overelaborated. The Metrical Tale may be humorous as in Chaucer's The Miller's Tale, or may be pathetic and tragic as in Tennyson's Enoch Arden or Wordsworth's Michael. In these poems it will be observed that the diction and phraseology are exceedingly simple. But here, too, candor requires the admission that the alleged difference between the Romance and the Tale is likely to bring on a charge of inconsistency. Enoch Arden, just now mentioned, abounds in romantic episodes, though Enoch and Philip and Annie dwell in a little fishing village. Why, if Chaucer chose to call his masterpiece the Canterbury Tales, should any one take the liberty of questioning his nomenclature? The query is well founded; and yet the reader must recognize a wide gulf in tone and spirit between The Knight's Tale and The Reeve's Tale. Call it, if you will, the distinction between idealism and realism; at any rate it exists, and ought to be made plain even at the risk of confronting dilemmas of another sort.

Having a kind of relationship to what we call arbitrarily the Metrical Tale is the Beast Fable in verse, in which animals and birds are endowed with reason and speech. The excuse for the Beast Fable is an ethical one, and the story, often humorous, is merely a vehicle for instruction,—a fact evident enough from the so-called moral appended to most Beast Fables. The best Beast Fables in English are those of John Gay.

It is beyond the scope of this introduction to make any but a passing reference to the forms of versification which have been used in narrative poetry. In general, the range of metres is wide and varied, though a few common lines and stanzas occur with much frequency. Blank Verse, a favorite Epic measure used by Milton in Paradise Lost, has also been effective in the Metrical Romance (Arnold's Sohrab and Rustum) and the Metrical Tale (Wordsworth's Michael). It is peculiarly fitting to longer poems of a serious character. The Heroic Couplet, made up of two rimed iambic pentameters, was invented by Chaucer and tried in many of the Canterbury Tales. It has since become very common, being the measure of such widely different poems as Marlowe's Hero and Leander, Pope's The Rape of the Lock, and Keats's Lamia. Octosyllabic verse is frequently found,—sometimes in rimed couplets as in Scott's Marmion, less often unrimed as in Longfellow's Hiawatha. In the couplet form it is especially suited to war poetry where a rapid movement is desirable. The standard four-lined ballad stanza with rimed alternate lines has continued in popularity with the artificial ballad writers and has been used in such poems as Wordsworth's Lucy Gray and Longfellow's The Wreck of the Hesperus. Most complicated of all the narrative stanzaic forms is the Spenserian stanza, devised by Spenser for his Faerie Queene and imitated by Keats in The Eve of St. Agnes. It has a stateliness which makes it well adapted to dignified themes. In some few examples there is a metre wholly irregular and following the movement of the story, as in Tennyson's The Revenge and Browning's Hervé Riel.

The discussion of narrative methods may be left to the will and discretion of the teacher. A study of the separate poems here presented will show that while the four almost indispensable elements of narration—plot, setting, characters, and motive—may usually be found, their use and emphasis vary greatly according to the theories and personalities of the authors. The employment of such arts of construction as suspense and climax may be discovered by the individual student, who should also test each poem for its unity, coherence, and proportion. In a collection such as this there is ample room for instructive criticism and comparison. But narrative poems may well be read for the interest they excite. If a narrative poem fails in this respect, it is all but condemned from the start. It is hoped that these examples may show the student that poetry is not always dull and lifeless; that it may possess at times all the features which make literature attractive as well as inspiring.

The editors are grateful for assistance rendered them by Mr. A. W. Leonard and Mr. Archibald Freeman, both instructors in Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.

[WILLIAM COWPER]

THE DIVERTING HISTORY OF JOHN GILPIN

SHOWING HOW HE WENT FARTHER THAN HE INTENDED, AND CAME HOME SAFE AGAIN

John Gilpin was a citizen Of credit and renown, A trainband captain eke[1] was he Of famous London town.

John Gilpin's spouse said to her dear,5 "Though wedded we have been These twice ten tedious years, yet we No holiday have seen.

"To-morrow is our wedding day, And we will then repair10 Unto the Bell at Edmonton[2] All in a chaise and pair.

"My sister, and my sister's child, Myself, and children three, Will fill the chaise; so you must ride15 On horseback after we.[3]"

He soon replied, "I do admire Of womankind but one, And you are she, my dearest dear, Therefore it shall be done.20

"I am a linendraper bold, As all the world doth know, And my good friend the calender[4] Will lend his horse to go."

Quoth Mrs. Gilpin, "That's well said;25 And for that wine is dear, We will be furnished with our own, Which is both bright and clear."

John Gilpin kiss'd his loving wife; O'erjoyed was he to find,30 That, though on pleasure she was bent, She had a frugal mind.

The morning came, the chaise was brought, But yet was not allow'd To drive up to the door, lest all35 Should say that she was proud.

So three doors off the chaise was stay'd, Where they did all get in; Six precious souls, and all agog[5] To dash through thick and thin.40

Smack went the whip, round went the wheels, Were never folks so glad, The stones did rattle underneath, As if Cheapside[6] were mad.

John Gilpin at his horse's side45 Seized fast the flowing mane, And up he got, in haste to ride, But soon came down again;

For saddletree[7] scarce reach'd had he His journey to begin,50 When, turning round his head, he saw Three customers come in.

So down he came; for loss of time, Although it grieved him sore, Yet loss of pence, full well he knew,55 Would trouble him much more.

'Twas long before the customers Were suited to their mind, When Betty screaming came down stairs, "The wine is left behind!"60

"Good lack!" quoth he—"yet bring it me, My leathern belt likewise, In which I bear my trusty sword When I do exercise."

Now Mistress Gilpin (careful soul!)65 Had two stone bottles found, To hold the liquor that she loved, And keep it safe and sound.

Each bottle had a curling ear, Through which the belt he drew,70 And hung a bottle on each side, To make his balance true.

Then over all, that he might be Equipp'd from top to toe, His long red cloak, well brush'd and neat,75 He manfully did throw.

Now see him mounted once again Upon his nimble steed, Full slowly pacing o'er the stones, With caution and good heed.80

But finding soon a smoother road Beneath his well shod feet, The snorting beast began to trot, Which gall'd him in his seat.

So, "fair and softly," John he cried,85 But John he cried in vain; That trot became a gallop soon, In spite of curb and rein.

So stooping down, as needs he must Who cannot sit upright,90 He grasp'd the mane with both his hands, And eke with all his might.

His horse, who never in that sort Had handled been before, What thing upon his back had got95 Did wonder more and more.

Away went Gilpin, neck or nought; Away went hat and wig; He little dreamt, when he set out, Of running such a rig.100

The wind did blow, the cloak did fly, Like streamer long and gay, Till, loop and button failing both, At last it flew away.

Then might all people well discern105 The bottles he had slung; A bottle swinging at each side, As hath been said or sung.

The dogs did bark, the children scream'd, Up flew the windows all;110 And every soul cried out, "Well done!" As loud as he could bawl.

Away went Gilpin—who but he? His fame soon spread around, "He carries weight! he rides a race [8]!115 'Tis for a thousand pound!"

And still as fast as he drew near, 'Twas wonderful to view, How in a trice the turnpike men Their gates wide open threw.120

And now, as he went bowing down His reeking head full low, The bottles twain behind his back Were shatter'd at a blow.

Down ran the wine into the road,125 Most piteous to be seen, Which made his horse's flanks to smoke As they had basted been.

But still he seem'd to carry weight, With leathern girdle braced;130 For all might see the bottle necks Still dangling at his waist.

Thus all through merry Islington[9] These gambols did he play, Until he came unto the Wash135 Of Edmonton so gay;

And there he threw the wash about On both sides of the way, Just like unto a trundling mop, Or a wild goose at play.140

At Edmonton his loving wife From the balcony spied Her tender husband, wondering much To see how he did ride.

"Stop, stop, John Gilpin!—Here's the house,"145 They all at once did cry; "The dinner waits, and we are tired:" Said Gilpin—"So am I!"

But yet his horse was not a whit Inclined to tarry there;150 For why?—his owner had a house Full ten miles off, at Ware.[10]

So like an arrow swift he flew, Shot by an archer strong; So did he fly—which brings me to155 The middle of my song.

Away went Gilpin out of breath, And sore against his will, Till at his friend the calender's His horse at last stood still.160

The calender, amazed to see His neighbor in such trim, Laid down his pipe, flew to the gate, And thus accosted him:

"What news? what news? your tidings tell;165 Tell me you must and shall— Say why bareheaded you are come, Or why you come at all?"

Now Gilpin had a pleasant wit, And loved a timely joke;170 And thus unto the calender In merry guise he spoke:

"I came because your horse would come; And, if I well forbode, My hat and wig will soon be here,175 They are upon the road."

The calender, right glad to find His friend in merry pin,[11] Return'd him not a single word, But to the house went in;180

Whence straight he came with hat and wig; A wig that flow'd behind, A hat not much the worse for wear, Each comely in its kind.

He held them up, and in his turn185 Thus show'd his ready wit, "My head is twice as big as yours, They therefore needs must fit.

"But let me scrape the dirt away That hangs upon your face;190 And stop and eat, for well you may Be in a hungry case."

Said John, "It is my wedding day, And all the world would stare, If wife should dine at Edmonton,195 And I should dine at Ware."

So turning to his horse, he said, "I am in haste to dine; 'Twas for your pleasure you came here, You shall go back for mine."200

Ah luckless speech, and bootless boast! For which he paid full dear; For, while he spake, a braying ass Did sing most loud and clear;

Whereat his horse did snort, as he205 Had heard a lion roar, And gallop'd off with all his might, As he had done before.

Away went Gilpin, and away Went Gilpin's hat and wig:210 He lost them sooner than at first, For why?—they were too big.

Now mistress Gilpin, when she saw Her husband posting down Into the country far away,215 She pull'd out half a crown;

And thus unto the youth she said, That drove them to the Bell, "This shall be yours, when you bring back My husband safe and well."220

The youth did ride, and soon did meet John coming back amain[12]; Whom in a trice he tried to stop, By catching at his rein;

But not performing what he meant,225 And gladly would have done, The frighted steed he frighted more, And made him faster run.

Away went Gilpin, and away Went postboy at his heels,230 The postboy's horse right glad to miss The lumbering of the wheels.

Six gentlemen upon the road, Thus seeing Gilpin fly, With postboy scampering in the rear,235 They raised the hue and cry[13]:—

"Stop thief! stop thief!—a highwayman!" Not one of them was mute; And all and each that passed that way Did join in the pursuit.240

And now the turnpike gates again Flew open in short space; The toll-men thinking as before, That Gilpin rode a race.

And so he did, and won it too,245 For he got first to town; Nor stopp'd till where he had got up He did again get down.

Now let us sing, "Long live the king, And Gilpin, long live he;"250 And when he next doth ride abroad, May I be there to see!

[ROBERT BURNS]

TAM O' SHANTER

"Of brownyis and of bogilis full is this buke."
Gawin Douglas.
A Tale

When chapman billies[14] leave the street, And drouty[15] neebors, neebors meet, As market-days are wearing late, And folk begin to tak the gate[16]; While we sit bousing at the nappy,[17]5 And gettin' fou[18] and unco[19] happy, We think na on the lang Scots miles. The mosses, waters, slaps[20] and styles, That lie between us and our hame, Where sits our sulky sullen dame,10 Gathering her brows like gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.

This truth fand honest Tam o' Shanter, As he frae[21] Ayr[22] ae night did canter, (Auld Ayr, wham ne'er a town surpasses15 For honest men and bonny lasses.)

O Tam! hadst thou but been sae wise, As ta'en thy ain wife Kate's advice! She tauld thee weel thou wast a skellum,[23] A blethering,[24] blustering, drunken blellum[25];20 That frae November till October, Ae market-day thou wasna sober; That ilka[26] melder,[27] wi' the miller, Thou sat as lang as thou had siller; That every naig was ca'd[28] a shoe on,25 The smith and thee gat roaring fou on; That at the Lord's house, even on Sunday, Thou drank wi' Kirkton Jean till Monday. She prophesied that, late or soon, Thou would be found deep drowned in Doon,[29]30 Or catched wi' warlocks[30] in the mirk,[31] By Alloway's[32] auld haunted kirk.[33]

Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet,[34] To think how monie counsels sweet, How monie lengthened sage advices,35 The husband frae the wife despises!

But to our tale:—Ae market-night, Tam had got planted[35] unco right, Fast by an ingle,[36] bleezing finely, Wi' reaming swats,[37] that drank divinely;40 And at his elbow, Souter[38] Johnny, His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony; Tam lo'ed him like a vera brither— They had been fou for weeks thegither! The night drave on wi' sangs and clatter,45 And aye the ale was growing better; The landlady and Tam grew gracious, Wi' favors secret, sweet, and precious; The souter tauld his queerest stories, The landlord's laugh was ready chorus;50 The storm without might rair and rustle— Tam did na mind the storm a whistle.

Care, mad to see a man sae happy, E'en drowned himself amang the nappy! As bees flee hame wi' lades o' treasure,55 The minutes winged their way wi' pleasure: Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious, O'er a' the ills o' life victorious.

But pleasures are like poppies spread,— You seize the flower, its bloom is shed;60 Or like the snowfall in the river,— A moment white—then melts forever; Or like the borealis race, That flit ere you can point their place; Or like the rainbow's lovely form,65 Evanishing amid the storm. Nae man can tether time or tide; The hour approaches Tam maun[39] ride: That hour, o' night's black arch the keystane, That dreary hour he mounts his beast in;70 And sic a night he taks the road in As ne'er poor sinner was abroad in. The wind blew as 'twad blawn its last; The rattling showers rose on the blast; The speedy gleams the darkness swallowed;75 Loud, deep, and lang the thunder bellowed: That night, a child might understand, The Deil[40] had business on his hand.

Weel mounted on his gray mare, Meg, (A better never lifted leg,)80 Tam skelpit[41] on through dub[42] and mire, Despising wind, and rain, and fire; Whiles holding fast his guid blue bonnet, Whiles crooning o'er some auld Scots sonnet; Whiles glowering round wi' prudent cares,85 Lest bogles[43] catch him unawares:— Kirk-Alloway was drawing nigh, Where ghaists and houlets[44] nightly cry.

By this time he was cross the ford, Where in the snaw the chapman smoored[45];90 And past the birks[46] and meikle stane,[47] Where drunken Charlie brak's neck-bane; And through the whins,[48] and by the cairn,[49] Where hunters fand the murdered bairn[50]; And near the thorn, aboon the well,95 Where Mungo's mither hanged hersel'. Before him Doon pours all his floods; The doubling storm roars through the woods; The lightnings flash from pole to pole; Near and more near the thunders roll;100 When, glimmering through the groaning trees, Kirk-Alloway seemed in a bleeze[51]; Through ilka bore[52] the beams were glancing, And loud resounded mirth and dancing.

Inspiring bold John Barleycorn,[53]105 What dangers thou canst make us scorn! Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil; Wi' usquebae,[54] we'll face the devil!— The swats sae reamed in Tammie's noddle, Fair play, he cared na deils a boddle.[55]110 But Maggie stood right sair astonished, Till, by the heel and hand admonished, She ventured forward on the light; And, vow! Tam saw an unco sight! Warlocks and witches in a dance;115 Nae cotillion brent[56] new frae France, But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys,[57] and reels, Put life and mettle in their heels. A winnock-bunker[58] in the east, There sat auld Nick, in shape o' beast;120 A towzie tyke,[59] black, grim, and large, To gie them music was his charge; He screwed the pipes and gart them skirl,[60] Till roof and rafters a' did dirl.[61] Coffins stood round, like open presses,125 That shawed the dead in their last dresses; And by some devilish cantrip slight[62] Each in its cauld hand held a light: By which heroic Tam was able To note upon the haly table,130 A murderer's banes in gibbet airns; Twa span-lang, wee unchristened bairns; A thief, new-cutted frae the rape, Wi' his last gasp his gab[63] did gape; Five tomahawks, wi' bluid red-rusted;135 Five scimitars, wi' murder crusted; A garter which a babe had strangled; A knife, a father's throat had mangled, Whom his ain son o' life bereft,— The gray hairs yet stack to the heft:140 Wi' mair o' horrible and awfu', Which even to name wad be unlawfu'!

As Tammie glow'red, amazed and curious, The mirth and fun grew fast and furious; The piper loud and louder blew;145 The dancers quick and quicker flew; They reeled, they set, they crossed, they cleekit,[64] Till ilka carlin[65] swat and reekit, And coost her duddies[66] to the wark, And linket[67] at it in her sark[68]!150

Now Tam, O Tam! had thae been queans,[69] A' plump and strappin' in their teens; Their sarks, instead o' creeshie flannen,[70] Been snaw-white seventeen-hunder linen[71]! Thir breeks o' mine, my only pair,155 That ance were plush, o' guid blue hair, I wad hae gi'en them off my hurdies,[72] For ae blink o' the bonny burdies[73]! But withered beldams,[74] auld and droll Rigwooddie[75] hags wad spean[76] a foal,160 Louping and flinging on a cummock,[77] I wonder didna turn thy stomach.

But Tam kenned what was what fu' brawlie[78]; There was ae winsome wench and walie,[79] That night enlisted in the core,[80]165 (Lang after kenned on Carrick shore; For monie a beast to dead she shot, And perished monie a bonny boat, And shook baith meikle corn and bear,[81] And kept the country-side in fear.)170 Her cutty-sark,[82] o' Paisley harn,[83] That while a lassie she had won, In longitude though sorely scanty, It was her best, and she was vauntie.[84] Ah! little kenned thy reverend grannie175 That sark she coft[85] for her wee Nannie, Wi' twa pund Scots ('twas a' her riches), Wad ever graced a dance o' witches!

But here my Muse her wing maun cour; Sic flights are far beyond her power;—180 To sing how Nannie lap and flang[86] (A souple jade she was, and strang), And how Tam stood like ane bewitched, And thought his very e'en[87] enriched: Even Satan glow'red and fidged fu' fain,[88]185 And hotched[89] and blew wi' might and main: Till first ae caper, syne[90] anither, Tam tint[91] his reason a' thegither, And roars out: "Weel done, Cutty-sark!" And in an instant all was dark:190 And scarcely had he Maggie rallied, When out the hellish legion sallied. As bees bizz out wi' angry fyke,[92] When plundering herds assail their byke[93]; As open poussie's mortal foes,195 When, pop! she starts before their nose; As eager runs the market-crowd, When "Catch the thief!" resounds aloud; So Maggie runs, the witches follow, Wi' monie an eldritch[94] screech and hollow.200

Ah, Tam! ah, Tam! thou'll get they fairin'[95]! In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin'! In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin'; Kate soon will be a woefu' woman! Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg,205 And win the keystane o' the brig; There at them thou thy tail may toss, A running-stream they darena cross[96]! But ere the keystane she could make, The fient a tail she had to shake!210 For Nannie, far before the rest, Hard upon noble Maggie prest, And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle,[97]— But little wist she Maggie's mettle! Ae spring brought off her master hale,215 But left behind her ain gray tail: The carlin claught her by the rump, And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.

Now, wha this tale o' truth shall read, Ilk man and mother's son, take heed!220 Whene'er to drink you are inclined, Or cutty-sarks run in your mind, Think ye may buy the joys o'er dear,— Remember Tam o' Shanter's mare.

[WALTER SCOTT]

LOCHINVAR

O, young Lochinvar is come out of the west, Through all the wide Border[98] his steed was the best; And, save his good broadsword, he weapons had none, He rode all unarm'd, and he rode all alone. So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,5 There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.

He staid not for brake, and he stopp'd not for stone, He swam the Esk river[99] where ford there was none; But ere he alighted at Netherby gate, The bride had consented, the gallant came late:10 For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war, Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.

So boldly he enter'd the Netherby Hall, Among bride's-men, and kinsmen, and brothers, and all: Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword,15 (For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word,) "O come ye in peace here, or come ye in war, Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?"—

"I long woo'd your daughter, my suit you denied;— Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like the tide—20 And now I am come, with this lost love of mine, To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine. There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far, That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar."

The bride kiss'd the goblet: the knight took it up,25 He quaff'd off the wine, and he threw down the cup. She look'd down to blush, and she look'd up to sigh, With a smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye. He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar,— "Now tread we a measure!" said young Lochinvar.30

So stately his form, and so lovely her face, There never a hall such a galliard [100] did grace; While her mother did fret, and her father did fume, And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume; And the bride-maidens whisper'd, "'Twere better by far,35 To have match'd our fair cousin with young Lochinvar."

One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear, When they reach'd the hall-door, and the charger stood near; So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung, So light to the saddle before her he sprung!40 "She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur [101]; They'll have fleet steeds that follow," quoth young Lochinvar.

There was mounting 'mong Graemes of the Netherby clan; Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran; There was racing and chasing, on Cannobie Lee,45 But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see. So daring in love, and so dauntless in war. Have ye e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar?

[WILLIAM WORDSWORTH]

MICHAEL

A Pastoral Poem

If from the public way you turn your steps Up the tumultuous brook of Greenhead Ghyll,[102] You will suppose that with an upright path Your feet must struggle; in such bold ascent The pastoral mountains front you, face to face.5 But courage! for around that boisterous brook The mountains have all opened out themselves, And made a hidden valley of their own. No habitation can be seen; but they Who journey thither find themselves alone10 With a few sheep, with rocks and stones, and kites That overhead are sailing in the sky. It is in truth an utter solitude; Nor should I have made mention of this Dell But for one object which you might pass by,15 Might see and notice not. Beside the brook Appears a straggling heap of unhewn stones! And to that simple object appertains A story—unenriched with strange events, Yet not unfit, I deem, for the fireside,20 Or for the summer shade. It was the first Of those domestic tales that spake to me Of shepherds, dwellers in the valleys, men Whom I already loved; not verily For their own sakes, but for the fields and hills25 Where was their occupation and abode. And hence this Tale, while I was yet a boy Careless of books, yet having felt the power Of Nature, by the gentle agency Of natural objects, led me on to feel30 For passions that were not my own, and think (At random and imperfectly indeed) On man, the heart of man, and human life. Therefore, although it be a history Homely and rude, I will relate the same35 For the delight of a few natural hearts; And, with yet fonder feeling, for the sake Of youthful Poets, who among these hills Will be my second self when I am gone. Upon the forest side in Grasmere vale40 There dwelt a shepherd, Michael was his name; An old man, stout of heart, and strong of limb. His bodily frame had been from youth to age Of an unusual strength; his mind was keen, Intense, and frugal, apt for all affairs,45 And in his shepherd's calling he was prompt And watchful more than ordinary men. Hence had he learned the meaning of all winds, Of blasts of every tone; and, oftentimes, When others heeded not, he heard the South50 Make subterraneous music, like the noise Of bagpipers on distant Highland hills. The shepherd, at such warning, of his flock Bethought him, and he to himself would say, "The winds are now devising work for me!"55 And, truly, at all times, the storm, that drives The traveller to a shelter, summoned him Up to the mountains: he had been alone Amid the heart of many thousand mists, That came to him, and left him, on the heights.60 So lived he till his eightieth year was past. And grossly that man errs who should suppose That the green valleys, and the streams and rocks, Were things indifferent to the shepherd's thoughts. Fields, where with cheerful spirits he had breathed65 The common air; hills which with vigorous step He had so often climbed; which had impressed So many incidents upon his mind Of hardship, skill or courage, joy or fear; Which, like a book, preserved the memory70 Of the dumb animals, whom he had saved, Had fed or sheltered, linking to such acts The certainty of honorable gain; Those fields, those hills—what could they less? had laid Strong hold on his affections, were to him75 A pleasurable feeling of blind love, The pleasure which there is in life itself. His days had not been passed in singleness. His Helpmate was a comely matron, old— Though younger than himself full twenty years.80 She was a woman of a stirring life, Whose heart was in her house: two wheels she had Of antique form; this large, for spinning wool; That small, for flax; and if one wheel had rest It was because the other was at work.85 The Pair had but one inmate in their house, An only Child, who had been born to them When Michael, telling o'er his years, began To deem that he was old,—in shepherd's phrase, With one foot in the grave. This only Son,90 With two brave sheep-dogs tried in many a storm, The one of an inestimable worth, Made all their household. I may truly say, That they were as a proverb in the vale For endless industry. When day was gone,95 And from their occupations out of doors The Son and Father were come home, even then, Their labor did not cease; unless when all Turned to the cleanly supper-board, and there, Each with a mess of pottage and skimmed milk,100 Sat round the basket piled with oaten cakes, And their plain home-made cheese. Yet when the meal Was ended, Luke (for so the Son was named) And his old Father both betook themselves To such convenient work as might employ105 Their hands by the fireside; perhaps to card Wool for the Housewife's spindle, or repair Some injury done to sickle, flail, or scythe, Or other implement of house or field. Down from the ceiling, by the chimney's edge,110 That in our ancient uncouth country style With huge and black projection overbrowed Large space beneath, as duly as the light Of day grew dim the Housewife hung a lamp; An aged utensil, which had performed115 Service beyond all others of its kind. Early at evening did it burn—and late, Surviving comrade of uncounted hours, Which, going by from year to year, had found, And left, the couple neither gay perhaps120 Nor cheerful, yet with objects and with hopes, Living a life of eager industry. And now, when Luke had reached his eighteenth year, There by the light of this old lamp they sate, Father and Son, while far into the night125 The Housewife plied her own peculiar work, Making the cottage through the silent hours Murmur as with the sound of summer flies. This light was famous in its neighborhood, And was a public symbol of the life130 That thrifty Pair had lived. For, as it chanced, Their cottage on a plot of rising ground Stood single, with large prospect, north and south, High into Easedale,[103] up to Dunmail-Raise, And westward to the village near the lake;135 And from this constant light, so regular And so far seen, the House itself, by all Who dwelt within the limits of the vale, Both old and young, was named The Evening Star. Thus living on through such a length of years,140 The Shepherd, if he loved himself, must needs Have loved his Helpmate; but to Michael's heart This son of his old age was yet more dear— Less from instinctive tenderness, the same Fond spirit that blindly works in the blood of all—145 Than that a child, more than all other gifts That earth can offer to declining man, Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts, And stirrings of inquietude, when they By tendency of nature need must fail.150 Exceeding was the love he bare to him, His heart and his heart's joy! For oftentimes Old Michael, while he was a babe in arms, Had done him female service, not alone For pastime and delight, as is the use155 Of fathers, but with patient mind enforced To acts of tenderness; and he had rocked His cradle, as with a woman's gentle hand. And, in a later time, ere yet the boy Had put on man's attire, did Michael love,160 Albeit of a stern unbending mind, To have the Young-one in his sight, when he Wrought in the field, or on his shepherd's stool Sate with a fettered sheep before him stretched Under the large old oak, that near his door165 Stood single, and from matchless depth of shade, Chosen for the Shearer's covert from the sun, Thence in our rustic dialect was called The Clipping Tree, a name which yet it bears. There while they two were sitting in the shade,170 With others round them, earnest all and blithe Would Michael exercise his heart with looks Of fond correction, and reproof bestowed Upon the child, if he disturbed the sheep By catching at their legs, or with his shouts175 Scared them, while they lay still beneath the shears. And when by Heaven's good grace the boy grew up A healthy Lad, and carried in his cheek Two steady roses that were five years old; Then Michael from a winter coppice cut180 With his own hand a sapling, which he hooped With iron, making it throughout in all Due requisites a perfect shepherd's staff, And gave it to the boy; wherewith equipt He as a watchman oftentimes was placed185 At gate or gap to stem or turn the flock; And, to his office prematurely called, There stood the urchin, as you will divine, Something between a hindrance and a help; And for this cause not always, I believe,190 Receiving from his father hire of praise; Though nought was left undone which staff, or voice, Or looks or threatening gestures, could perform. But soon as Luke, full ten years old, could stand Against the mountain blasts; and to the heights,195 Not fearing toil, nor length of weary ways, He with his father daily went, and they Were as companions, why should I relate That objects which the shepherd loved before Were dearer now? that from the Boy there came200 Feelings and emanations—things which were Light to the sun and music to the wind; And that the old Man's heart seemed born again? Thus in his father's sight the Boy grew up; And now, when he had reached his eighteenth year,205 He was his comfort and his daily hope. While in this sort the simple household lived From day to day, to Michael's ear there came Distressful tidings. Long before the time Of which I speak, the Shepherd had been bound210 In surety for his brother's son, a man Of an industrious life, and ample means; But unforeseen misfortunes suddenly Had prest upon him; and old Michael now Was summoned to discharge the forfeiture,215 A grievous penalty, but little less Than half his substance. This unlooked-for claim, At the first hearing, for a moment took More hope out of his life than he supposed That any old man ever could have lost.220 As soon as he had armed himself with strength To look his troubles in the face, it seemed The Shepherd's sole resource to sell at once A portion of his patrimonial fields. Such was his first resolve; he thought again,225 And his heart failed him. "Isabel," said he, Two evenings after he had heard the news, "I have been toiling more than seventy years, And in the open sunshine of God's love Have we all lived; yet if these fields of ours230 Should pass into a stranger's hand, I think That I could not lie quiet in my grave. Our lot is a hard lot; the sun himself Has scarcely been more diligent than I; And I have lived to be a fool at last235 To my own family. An evil man That was, and made an evil choice, if he Were false to us; and if he were not false, There are ten thousand to whom loss like this Had been no sorrow. I forgive him;—but240 'Twere better to be dumb than to talk thus. When I began, my purpose was to speak Of remedies and of a cheerful hope. Our Luke shall leave us, Isabel; the land Shall not go from us, and it shall be free;245 He shall possess it, free as is the wind That passes over it. We have, thou know'st, Another kinsman—he will be our friend In this distress. He is a prosperous man, Thriving in trade—and Luke to him shall go,250 And with his kinsman's help and his own thrift He quickly will repair this loss, and then He may return to us. If here he stay, What can be done? Where every one is poor, What can be gained?" At this the old Man paused,255 And Isabel sat silent, for her mind Was busy, looking back into past times. There's Richard Bateman, thought she to herself, He was a parish-boy—at the church-door They made a gathering for him, shillings, pence260 And halfpennies, wherewith the neighbors bought A basket, which they filled with pedlar's wares; And, with this basket on his arm, the lad Went up to London, found a master there, Who, out of many, chose the trusty boy265 To go and overlook his merchandise Beyond the seas; where he grew wondrous rich, And left estates and monies to the poor, And, at his birthplace, built a chapel, floored With marble which he sent from foreign lands.270 These thoughts, and many others of like sort, Passed quickly through the mind of Isabel, And her face brightened. The old Man was glad, And thus resumed:—"Well, Isabel! this scheme These two days, has been meat and drink to me.275 Far more than we have lost is left us yet. —We have enough—I wish indeed that I Were younger;—but this hope is a good hope. —Make ready Luke's best garments, of the best Buy for him more, and let us send him forth280 To-morrow, or the next day, or to-night: —If he could go, the Boy should go to-night." Here Michael ceased, and to the fields went forth With a light heart. The Housewife for five days Was restless morn and night, and all day long285 Wrought on with her best fingers to prepare Things needful for the journey of her son. But Isabel was glad when Sunday came To stop her in her work: for, when she lay By Michael's side, she through the last two nights290 Heard him, how he was troubled in his sleep; And when they rose at morning she could see That all his hopes were gone. That day at noon She said to Luke, while they two by themselves Were sitting at the door, "Thou must not go:295 We have no other Child but thee to lose, None to remember—do not go away, For if thou leave thy Father, he will die." The Youth made answer with a jocund voice; And Isabel, when she had told her fears,300 Recovered heart. That evening her best fare Did she bring forth, and all together sat Like happy people round a Christmas fire. With daylight Isabel resumed her work; And all the ensuing week the house appeared305 As cheerful as a grove in Spring: at length The expected letter from their kinsman came, With kind assurances that he would do His utmost for the welfare of the boy; To which, requests were added, that forthwith310 He might be sent to him. Ten times or more The letter was read over; Isabel Went forth to show it to the neighbors round; Nor was there at that time on English land A prouder heart than Luke's. When Isabel315 Had to her house returned, the old Man said, "He shall depart to-morrow." To this word The Housewife answered, talking much of things Which, if at such short notice he should go, Would surely be forgotten. But at length320 She gave consent, and Michael was at ease. Near the tumultuous brook of Greenhead Ghyll, In that deep valley, Michael had designed To build a Sheepfold; and, before he heard The tidings of his melancholy loss,325 For this same purpose he had gathered up A heap of stones, which by the streamlet's edge Lay thrown together, ready for the work. With Luke that evening thitherward he walked: And soon as they had reached the place he stopped,330 And thus the old man spoke to him:—"My son, To-morrow thou wilt leave me: with full heart I look upon thee, for thou art the same That wert a promise to me ere thy birth, And all thy life hast been my daily joy.335 I will relate to thee some little part Of our two histories; 'twill do thee good When thou art from me, even if I should touch On things thou canst not know of.—After thou First cam'st into the world—as oft befalls340 To new-born infants—thou didst sleep away Two days, and blessings from thy Father's tongue Then fell upon thee. Day by day passed on, And still I loved thee with increasing love. Never to living ear came sweeter sounds345 Then when I heard thee by our own fireside First uttering, without words, a natural tune; While thou, a feeding babe, didst in thy joy Sing at thy mother's breast. Month followed month And in the open fields my life was passed350 And on the mountains; else I think that thou Hadst been brought up upon thy Father's knees. But we were playmates, Luke: among these hills, As well thou knowest, in us the old and young Have played together, nor with me didst thou355 Lack any pleasure which a boy can know." Luke had a manly heart; but at these words He sobbed aloud. The old Man grasped his hand, And said, "Nay, do not take it so—I see That these are things of which I need not speak.360 —Even to the utmost I have been to thee A kind and a good Father: and herein I but repay a gift which I myself Received at others' hands; for, though now old Beyond the common life of man, I still365 Remember them who loved me in my youth. Both of them sleep together: here they lived, As all their Forefathers had done; and when At length their time was come, they were not loth To give their bodies to the family mould.370 I wished that thou should'st live the life they lived: But, 'tis a long time to look back, my Son, And see so little gain from threescore years. These fields were burthened when they came to me; Till I was forty years of age, not more375 Than half of my inheritance was mine. I toiled and toiled; God blessed me in my work, And till these three weeks past the land was free. —It looks as if it never could endure Another Master. Heaven forgive me, Luke,380 If I judge ill for thee, but it seems good That thou should'st go." At this the old Man paused; Then, pointing to the stones near which they stood, Thus, after a short silence, he resumed: "This was a work for us; and now, my Son,385 It is a work for me. But, lay one stone— Here, lay it for me, Luke, with thine own hands. Nay, Boy, be of good hope;—we both may live To see a better day. At eighty-four I still am strong and hale;—do thou thy part;390 I will do mine.—I will begin again With many tasks that were resigned to thee: Up to the heights, and in among the storms, Will I without thee go again, and do All works which I was wont to do alone,395 Before I knew thy face.—Heaven bless thee, Boy! Thy heart these two weeks has been beating fast With many hopes; it should be so—yes—yes— I knew that thou could'st never have a wish To leave me, Luke: thou hast been bound to me400 Only by links of love: when thou art gone, What will be left to us!—But, I forget My purposes. Lay now the corner-stone, As I requested; and hereafter, Luke, When thou art gone away, should evil men405 Be thy companions, think of me, my Son, And of this moment; hither turn thy thoughts, And God will strengthen thee: amid all fear And all temptation, Luke, I pray that thou May'st bear in mind the life thy Fathers lived,410 Who, being innocent, did for that cause Bestir them in good deeds. Now, fare thee well— When thou return'st, thou in this place wilt see A work which is not here: a covenant 'Twill be between us; but, whatever fate415 Befall thee, I shall love thee to the last, And bear thy memory with me to the grave." The Shepherd ended here; and Luke stooped down, And, as his Father had requested, laid The first stone of the Sheepfold. At the sight420 The old Man's grief broke from him; to his heart He pressed his Son, he kissed him and wept; And to the house together they returned. —Hushed was that House in peace, or seeming peace, Ere the night fell:—with morrow's dawn the Boy425 Began his journey, and when he had reached The public way, he put on a bold face; And all the neighbors, as he passed their doors, Came forth with wishes and with farewell prayers, That followed him till he was out of sight.430 A good report did from their Kinsman come, Of Luke and his well-doing: and the Boy Wrote loving letters, full of wondrous news, Which, as the Housewife phrased it, were throughout "The prettiest letters that were ever seen."435 Both parents read them with rejoicing hearts. So, many months passed on: and once again The Shepherd went about his daily work With confident and cheerful thoughts; and now Sometimes when he could find a leisure hour440 He to that valley took his way, and there Wrought at the Sheepfold. Meantime Luke began To slacken in his duty; and, at length, He in the dissolute city gave himself To evil courses: ignominy and shame445 Fell on him, so that he was driven at last To seek a hiding-place beyond the seas. There is a comfort in the strength of love; 'Twill make a thing endurable, which else Would overset the brain, or break the heart:450 I have conversed with more than one who well Remember the old Man, and what he was Years after he had heard this heavy news. His bodily frame had been from youth to age Of an unusual strength. Among the rocks455 He went, and still looked up to sun and cloud, And listened to the wind; and, as before, Performed all kinds of labor for his sheep, And for the land, his small inheritance. And to that hollow dell from time to time460 Did he repair, to build the Fold of which His flock had need. 'Tis not forgotten yet The pity which was then in every heart For the old Man—and 'tis believed by all That many and many a day he thither went,465 And never lifted up a single stone. There, by the Sheepfold, sometimes was he seen Sitting alone, or with his faithful Dog, Then old, beside him, lying at his feet. The length of full seven years, from time to time,470 He at the building of this Sheepfold wrought, And left the work unfinished when he died. Three years, or little more, did Isabel Survive her Husband: at his death the estate Was sold, and went into a stranger's hand.475 The Cottage which was named the Evening Star Is gone—the ploughshare has been through the ground On which it stood; great changes have been wrought In all the neighborhood:—yet the oak is left That grew beside their door; and the remains480 Of the unfinished Sheepfold may be seen Beside the boisterous brook of Greenhead Ghyll.

[LUCY GRAY; or SOLITUDE]

Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray: And, when I crossed the wild, I chanced to see at break of day The solitary child.

No mate, no comrade Lucy knew;5 She dwelt on a wide moor. —The sweetest thing that ever grew Beside a human door!

You yet may spy the fawn at play, The hare upon the green;10 But the sweet face of Lucy Gray Will never more be seen.

"To-night will be a stormy night— You to the town must go; And take a lantern, child, to light15 Your mother through the snow."

"That, Father! will I gladly do: 'Tis scarcely afternoon— The minster-clock has just struck two, And yonder is the moon!"20

At this the father raised his hook, And snapped a faggot-band; He plied his work;—and Lucy took The lantern in her hand.

Not blither is the mountain roe:25 With many a wanton stroke Her feet disperse the powdery snow, That rises up like smoke.

The storm came on before its time: She wandered up and down;30 And many a hill did Lucy climb, But never reached the town.

The wretched parents all that night Went shouting far and wide; But there was neither sound nor sight35 To serve them for a guide.

At day-break on a hill they stood That overlooked the moor; And thence they saw the bridge of wood, A furlong from their door.40

They wept—and turning homeward, cried, "In heaven we all shall meet!" —When in the snow the mother spied The print of Lucy's feet.

Then downwards from the steep hill's edge45 They tracked the footprints small; And through the broken hawthorn hedge, And by the long stone-wall;

And then an open field they crossed; The marks were still the same;50 They tracked them on, nor ever lost; And to the bridge they came.

They followed from the snowy bank Those footmarks, one by one, Into the middle of the plank;55 And further there were none!

—Yet some maintain that to this day She is a living child; That you may see sweet Lucy Gray Upon the lonesome wild.60

O'er rough and smooth she trips along, And never looks behind; And sings a solitary song That whistles in the wind.

[THOMAS CAMPBELL]

HOHENLINDEN

On Linden, when the sun was low, All bloodless lay the untrodden snow, And dark as winter was the flow Of Iser,[104] rolling rapidly.

But Linden saw another sight,5 When the drum beat at dead of night, Commanding fires of death to light The darkness of her scenery.

By torch and trumpet fast arrayed, Each horseman drew his battle blade,10 And furious every charger neighed, To join the dreadful revelry.

Then shook the hills with thunder riven, Then rushed the steed to battle driven, And louder than the bolts of heaven,15 Far flashed the red artillery.

But redder yet that light shall glow, On Linden's hills of stained snow, And bloodier yet the torrent flow Of Iser, rolling rapidly.20

'Tis morn, but scarce yon level sun Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun, Where furious Frank and fiery Hun Shout in their sulphurous canopy.

The combat deepens. On, ye brave,25 Who rush to glory, or the grave! Wave, Munich! all thy banners wave! And charge with all thy chivalry!

Few, few shall part where many meet! The snow shall be their winding-sheet,30 And every turf beneath their feet Shall be a soldier's sepulchre.

[BATTLE OF THE BALTIC]

I

Of Nelson and the North, Sing the glorious day's renown, When to battle fierce came forth All the might of Denmark's crown, And her arms along the deep proudly shone;5 By each gun the lighted brand, In a bold determined hand, And the Prince of all the land Led them on.

II

Like leviathans afloat,10 Lay their bulwarks on the brine; While the sign of battle flew On the lofty British line: It was ten of April morn by the chime: As they drifted on their path,15 There was silence deep as death; And the boldest held his breath, For a time.

III

But the might of England flush'd To anticipate the scene;20 And her van the fleeter rush'd O'er the deadly space between. "Hearts of oak!" our captain cried; when each gun From its adamantine lips Spread a death-shade round the ships,25 Like the hurricane eclipse Of the sun.

IV

Again! again! again! And the havoc did not slack, Till a feeble cheer the Dane30 To our cheering sent us back;— Their shots along the deep slowly boom:— Then ceased—and all is wail, As they strike the shatter'd sail; Or, in conflagration pale,35 Light the gloom.

V

Out spoke the victor then, As he hailed them o'er the wave; "Ye are brothers! ye are men! And we conquer but to save:—40 So peace instead of death let us bring; But yield, proud foe, thy fleet, With the crews, at England's feet And make submission meet To our King."45

VI

Then Denmark bless'd our chief, That he gave her wounds repose; And the sounds of joy and grief From her people wildly rose, As Death withdrew his shades from the day,50 While the sun looked smiling bright O'er a wide and woful sight, Where the fires of funeral light Died away.

VII

Now joy, Old England, raise!55 For the tidings of thy might, By the festal cities' blaze, Whilst the wine-cup shines in light; And yet amidst that joy and uproar, Let us think of them that sleep,60 Full many a fathom deep, By thy wild and stormy steep, Elsinore!

VIII

Brave hearts! to Britain's pride Once so faithful and so true;65 On the deck of fame that died;— With the gallant good Riou[105]; Soft sigh the winds of Heaven o'er their grave While the billow mournful rolls, And the mermaid's song condoles,70 Singing glory to the souls Of the brave.

[CHARLES WOLFE]

THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE AT CORUNNA[106]

Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, As his corse to the rampart we hurried; Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot O'er the grave where our hero we buried.

We buried him darkly at dead of night,5 The sods with our bayonets turning; By the struggling moonbeam's misty light, And the lantern dimly burning.

No useless coffin enclosed his breast, Not in sheet nor in shroud we wound him;10 But he lay like a warrior taking his rest With his martial cloak around him.

Few and short were the prayers we said, And we spoke not a word of sorrow; But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead,15 And we bitterly thought of the morrow.

We thought as we hollowed his narrow bed, And smoothed down his lonely pillow, That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head, And we far away on the billow!20

Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him,— But little he'll reck, if they let him sleep on In the grave where a Briton has laid him.

But half of our weary task was done25 When the clock struck the hour for retiring; And we heard the distant and random gun That the foe was sullenly firing.

Slowly and sadly we laid him down, From the field of his fame fresh and gory;30 We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone— But we left him alone with his glory.

[LORD BYRON]

THE PRISONER OF CHILLON

A Fable

I

My hair is gray, but not with years, Nor grew it white In a single night, As men's have grown from sudden fears.[107] My limbs are bowed, though not with toil,5 But rusted with a vile repose, For they have been a dungeon's spoil, And mine has been the fate of those To whom the goodly earth and air Are banned, and barred—forbidden fare;10 But this was for my father's faith I suffered chains and courted death; That father perished at the stake For tenets he would not forsake; And for the same his lineal race15 In darkness found a dwelling-place; We were seven—who now are one, Six in youth, and one in age, Finished as they had begun, Proud of Persecution's rage;20 One in fire, and two in field, Their belief with blood have sealed[108]: Dying as their father died, For the God their foes denied;— Three were in a dungeon cast,25 Of whom this wreck is left the last.

II

There are seven[109] pillars of Gothic mould In Chillon's dungeons deep and old, There are seven columns massy and gray, Dim with a dull imprisoned ray,30 A sunbeam which hath lost its way, And through the crevice and the cleft Of the thick wall is fallen and left: Creeping o'er the floor so damp, Like a marsh's meteor lamp[110]:35 And in each pillar there is a ring, And in each ring there is a chain; That iron is a cankering[111] thing, For in these limbs its teeth remain, With marks that will not wear away40 Till I have done with this new day, Which now is painful to these eyes, Which have not seen the sun so rise For years—I cannot count them o'er, I lost their long and heavy score45 When my last brother drooped and died, And I lay living by his side.

III

They chained us each to a column stone, And we were three—yet, each alone; We could not move a single pace,50 We could not see each other's face, But with that pale and livid light That made us strangers in our sight: And thus together—yet apart, Fettered in hand, but joined in heart;55 'Twas still some solace, in the dearth Of the pure elements[112] of earth, To hearken to each other's speech, And each turn comforter to each With some new hope or legend old,60 Or song heroically bold; But even these at length grew cold. Our voices took a dreary tone, An echo of the dungeon stone, A grating sound—not full and free65 As they of yore were wont to be; It might be fancy—but to me They never sounded like our own.

IV

I was the eldest of the three, And to uphold and cheer the rest70 I ought to do—and did my best— And each did well in his degree. The youngest, whom my father loved, Because our mother's brow was given To him—with eyes as blue as heaven,75 For him my soul was sorely moved: And truly might it be distressed To see such bird in such a nest; For he was beautiful as day— (When day was beautiful to me80 As to young eagles being free)—
A polar day,[113] which will not see A sunset till its summer's gone, Its sleepless summer of long light, The snow-clad offspring of the sun:85 And thus he was as pure and bright, And in his natural spirit gay, With tears for naught but others' ills, And then they flowed like mountain rills, Unless he could assuage the woe90 Which he abhorred to view below.

V

The other was as pure of mind, But formed to combat with his kind; Strong in his frame, and of a mood Which 'gainst the world in war had stood,95 And perished in the foremost rank With joy:—but not in chains to pine: His spirit withered with their clank, I saw it silently decline— And so perchance in sooth[114] did mine:100 But yet I forced it on to cheer Those relics of a home so dear. He was a hunter of the hills, Had followed there the deer and wolf; To him this dungeon was a gulf,105 And fettered feet the worst of ills.

VI

Lake Leman[115] lies by Chillon's walls, A thousand feet in depth below Its massy waters meet and flow; Thus much the fathom-line was sent110 From Chillon's snow-white battlement, Which round about the wave inthrals: A double dungeon wall and wave Have made—and like a living grave. Below the surface of the lake115 The dark vault lies wherein we lay, We heard it ripple night and day; Sounding o'er our heads it knocked And I have felt the winter's spray Wash through the bars when winds were high120 And wanton in the happy sky; And then the very rock hath rocked, And I have felt it shake, unshocked, Because I could have smiled to see The death that would have set me free.125

VII

I said my nearer brother pined, I said his mighty heart declined, He loathed and put away his food; It was not that 'twas coarse and rude, For we were used to hunter's fare,130 And for the like had little care: The milk drawn from the mountain goat Was changed for water from the moat,[116] Our bread was such as captive's tears Have moistened many a thousand years,135 Since man first pent his fellow-men Like brutes within an iron den; But what were these to us or him? These wasted not his heart or limb; My brother's soul was of that mould140 Which in a palace had grown cold, Had his free breathing been denied The range of the steep mountain's side; But why delay the truth?—he died. I saw, and could not hold his head,145 Nor reach his dying hand—nor dead,— Though hard I strove, but strove in vain, To rend and gnash my bonds in twain. He died, and they unlocked his chain, And scooped for him a shallow grave150 Even from the cold earth of our cave. I begged them, as a boon, to lay His corse in dust whereon the day Might shine—it was a foolish thought, But then within my brain it wrought,155 That even in death his freeborn breast In such a dungeon could not rest. I might have spared my idle prayer— They coldly laughed—and laid him there: The flat and turfless earth above160 The being we so much did love; His empty chain above it leant, Such murder's fitting monument!

VIII

But he, the favourite and the flower, Most cherished since his natal hour,165 His mother's image in fair face, The infant love of all his race, His martyred father's dearest thought, My latest care, for whom I sought To hoard my life, that his might be170 Less wretched now, and one day free; He, too, who yet had held untired A spirit natural or inspired— He, too, was struck, and day by day Was withered on the stalk away.175 Oh, God! it is a fearful thing To see the human soul take wing In any shape, in any mood:— I've seen it rushing forth in blood,[117] I've seen it on the breaking ocean180 Strive with a swoln convulsive motion, I've seen the sick and ghastly bed Of Sin delirious with its dread: But these were horrors—this was woe Unmixed with such—but sure and slow;185 He faded, and so calm and meek, So softly worn, so sweetly weak, So tearless, yet so tender—kind, And grieved for those he left behind; With all the while a cheek whose bloom190 Was as a mockery of the tomb, Whose tints as gently sunk away As a departing rainbow's ray— An eye of most transparent light, That almost made the dungeon bright,195 And not a word of murmur—not A groan o'er his untimely lot,— A little talk of better days, A little hope my own to raise, For I was sunk in silence—lost200 In this last loss, of all the most; And then the sighs he would suppress Of fainting nature's feebleness, More slowly drawn, grew less and less: I listened, but I could not hear—205 I called, for I was wild with fear; I knew 'twas hopeless, but my dread Would not be thus admonishèd; I called, and thought I heard a sound— I burst my chain with one strong bound,210 And rushed to him:—I found him not, I only stirred in this black spot, I only lived—I only drew The accursed breath of dungeon-dew; The last—the sole—the dearest link215 Between me and the eternal brink, Which bound me to my failing race, Was broken in this fatal place. One on the earth, and one beneath— My brothers—both had ceased to breathe;220 I took that hand which lay so still, Alas! my own was full as chill; I had not strength to stir, or strive, But felt that I was still alive— A frantic feeling, when we know225 That what we love shall ne'er be so. I know not why I could not die, I had no earthly hope—but faith, And that forbade a selfish death.[118]230

IX

What next befell me then and there I know not well—I never knew— First came the loss of light, and air, And then of darkness too: I had no thought, no feeling—none—235 Among the stones I stood a stone, And was, scarce conscious what I wist,[119] As shrubless crags within the mist; For all was blank, and bleak, and gray, It was not night—it was not day,240 It was not even the dungeon-light, So hateful to my heavy sight, But vacancy absorbing space, And fixedness—without a place; There were no stars—no earth—no time—245 No check—no change—no good—no crime— But silence, and a stirless breath Which neither was of life nor death; A sea of stagnant idleness, Blind, boundless, mute, and motionless!250

X

A light broke in upon my brain,— It was the carol of a bird; It ceased, and then it came again, The sweetest song ear ever heard, And mine was thankful till my eyes255 Ran over with the glad surprise, And they that moment could not see I was the mate of misery; But then by dull degrees came back My senses to their wonted track,260 I saw the dungeon walls and floor Close slowly round me as before, I saw the glimmer of the sun Creeping as it before had done, But through the crevice where it came265 That bird was perched, as fond and tame, And tamer than upon the tree; A lovely bird, with azure wings, And song that said a thousand things, And seemed to say them all for me!270 I never saw its like before, I ne'er shall see its likeness more: It seemed like me to want a mate, But was not half so desolate, And it was come to love me when275 None lived to love me so again, And cheering from my dungeon's brink, Had brought me back to feel and think. I know not if it late were free, Or broke its cage to perch on mine,280 But knowing well captivity, Sweet bird! I could not wish for thine! Or if it were, in wingèd guise, A visitant from Paradise; For—Heaven forgive that thought! the while285 Which made me both to weep and smile; I sometimes deemed that it might be My brother's soul[120] come down to me; But then at last away it flew, And then 'twas mortal—well I knew,290 For he would never thus have flown, And left me twice so doubly lone,— Lone—as the corse within its shroud, Lone—as a solitary cloud,[121] A single cloud on a sunny day,295 While all the rest of heaven is clear, A frown upon the atmosphere, That hath no business to appear When skies are blue, and earth is gay.

XI

A kind of change came in my fate,300 My keepers grew compassionate; I know not what had made them so, They were inured to sights of woe, But so it was:—my broken chain With links unfastened did remain,305 And it was liberty to stride Along my cell from side to side, And up and down, and then athwart, And tread it over every part; And round the pillars one by one,310 Returning where my walk begun. Avoiding only, as I trod, My brothers' graves without a sod; For if I thought with heedless tread My step profaned their lowly bed,315 My breath came gaspingly and thick, And my crushed heart fell blind and sick.

XII

I made a footing in the wall, It was not therefrom to escape, For I had buried one and all320 Who loved me in a human shape; And the whole earth would henceforth be A wider prison unto me: No child—no sire—no kin had I, No partner in my misery;325 I thought of this, and I was glad, For thought of them had made me mad; But I was curious to ascend To my barred windows, and to bend Once more, upon the mountains high,330 The quiet of a loving eye.

XIII

I saw them—and they were the same, They were not changed like me in frame; I saw their thousand years of snow On high—their wide long lake below,335 And the blue Rhone in fullest flow; I heard the torrents leap and gush O'er channelled rock and broken bush; I saw the white-walled distant town, And whiter sails go skimming down;340 And then there was a little isle,[122] Which in my very face did smile, The only one in view; A small green isle it seemed no more, Scarce broader than my dungeon floor,345 But in it there were three tall trees, And o'er it blew the mountain breeze, And by it there were waters flowing, And on it there were young flowers growing, Of gentle breath and hue.350 The fish swam by the castle wall, And they seemed joyous each and all; The eagle rode the rising blast, Methought he never flew so fast As then to me he seemed to fly,355 And then new tears came in my eye, And I felt troubled—and would fain I had not left my recent chain; And when I did descend again, The darkness of my dim abode360 Fell on me as a heavy load; It was as is a new-dug grave, Closing o'er one we sought to save,— And yet my glance, too much oppressed, Had almost need of such a rest.365

XIV

It might be months, or years, or days, I kept no count—I took no note, I had no hope my eyes to raise, And clear them of their dreary mote; At last men came to set me free,370 I asked not why, and recked not where, It was at length the same to me, Fettered or fetterless to be, I learned to love despair. And thus when they appeared at last,375 And all my bonds aside were cast, These heavy walls to me had grown A hermitage—and all my own! And half I felt as they were come To tear me from a second home:380 With spiders I had friendship made, And watched them in their sullen trade, Had seen the mice by moonlight play, And why should I feel less than they? We were all inmates of one place,385 And I, the monarch of each race, Had power to kill—yet, strange to tell! In quiet we had learned to dwell— My very chains and I grew friends, So much a long communion tends390 To make us what we are:—even I Regained my freedom with a sigh.[123]

[MAZEPPA]

I

'Twas after dread Pultowa's[124] day, When Fortune left the royal Swede. Around a slaughter'd army lay, No more to combat and to bleed. The power and glory of the war,5 Faithless as their vain votaries, men, Had pass'd to the triumphant Czar, And Moscow's walls were safe again, Until a day more dark and drear,[125] And a more memorable year,10 Should give to slaughter and to shame A mightier host and haughtier name; A greater wreck, a deeper fall, A shock to one—a thunderbolt to all.

II

Such was the hazard of the die[126];15 The wounded Charles was taught to fly By day and night through field and flood, Stain'd with his own and subjects' blood; For thousands fell that flight to aid; And not a voice was heard t' upbraid20 Ambition in his humbled hour, When truth had naught to dread from power. His horse was slain, and Gieta[127] gave His own—and died the Russians' slave. This too sinks after many a league25 Of well-sustain'd, but vain fatigue; And in the depth of forests darkling, The watch-fires in the distance sparkling— The beacons of surrounding foes— A king must lay his limbs at length.30 Are these the laurels and repose For which the nations strain their strength? They laid him by a savage tree, In outworn nature's agony; His wounds were stiff—his limbs were stark—35 The heavy hour was chill and dark; The fever in his blood forbade a transient slumber's fitful aid: And thus it was; but yet through all, Kinglike the monarch bore his fall,40 And made, in this extreme of ill, His pangs the vassals of his will: All silent and subdued were they, As once the nations round him lay.

III

A band of chiefs!—alas! how few,45 Since but the fleeting of a day Had thinn'd it; but this wreck was true And chivalrous: upon the clay Each sate him down, all sad and mute, Beside his monarch and his steed,50 For danger levels man and brute,[128] And all are fellows in their need. Among the rest, Mazeppa made His pillow in an old oak's shade— Himself as rough, and scarce less old,55 The Ukraine's hetman,[129] calm and bold. But first, outspent with his long course, The Cossack prince rubb'd down his horse, And made for him a leafy bed, And smooth'd his fetlocks and his mane,60 And slack'd his girth, and stripp'd his rein, And joy'd to see how well he fed; For until now he had the dread His wearied courser might refuse To browse beneath the midnight dews:65 But he was hardy as his lord, And little cared for bed and board; But spirited and docile too; Whate'er was to be done, would do. Shaggy and swift, and strong of limb,70 All Tartar-like he carried him; Obey'd his voice, and came to call, And knew him in the midst of all: Though thousands were around,—and Night, Without a star, pursued her flight,—75 That steed from sunset until dawn His chief would follow like a fawn.

IV

This done, Mazeppa spread his cloak, And laid his lance beneath his oak, Felt if his arms in order good80 The long day's march had well withstood— If still the powder fill'd the pan, And flints unloosen'd kept their lock— His sabre's hilt and scabbard felt, And whether they had chafed his belt—85 And next the venerable man, From out his haversack and can, Prepared and spread his slender stock; And to the monarch and his men The whole or portion offer'd then90 With far less of inquietude Than courtiers at a banquet would. And Charles of this his slender share With smiles partook a moment there, To force of cheer a greater show,95 And seem above both wounds and woe;— And then he said—"Of all our band, Though firm of heart and strong of hand, In skirmish, march, or forage, none Can less have said or more have done100 Than thee, Mazeppa! On the earth So fit a pain had never birth, Since Alexander's days till now, As thy Bucephalus[130] and thou: All Scythia's[131] fame to thine should yield105 For pricking on o'er flood and field." Mazeppa answer'd—"Ill betide The school wherein I learn'd to ride!" Quoth Charles—"Old Hetman, wherefore so, Since thou hast learn'd the art so well?"110 Mazeppa said—"'Twere long to tell; And we have many a league to go, With every now and then a blow, And ten to one at least the foe, Before our steeds may graze at ease115 Beyond the swift Borysthenes[132]; And, sire, your limbs have need of rest, And I will be the sentinel Of this your troop."—"But I request," Said Sweden's monarch, "thou wilt tell120 This tale of thine, and I may reap, Perchance, from this the boon of sleep; For at this moment from my eyes The hope of present slumber flies."

"Well, sire, with such a hope, I'll track125 My seventy years of memory back: I think 'twas in my twentieth spring— Ay, 'twas,—when Casimir was king— John Casimir,—I was his page Six summers, in my earlier age.130 A learned monarch, faith! was he, And most unlike your majesty: He made no wars, and did not gain New realms to lose them back again; And (save debates in Warsaw's diet)135 He reign'd in most unseemly quiet; Not that he had no cares to vex, He loved the muses and the sex; And sometimes these so froward are, They made him wish himself at war;140 But soon his wrath being o'er, he took Another mistress, or new book. And then he gave prodigious fêtes— All Warsaw gather'd round his gates To gaze upon his splendid court,145 And dames, and chiefs, of princely port: He was the Polish Solomon, So sung his poets, all but one, Who, being unpension'd, made a satire, And boasted that he could not flatter.150 It was a court of jousts and mimes,[133] Where every courtier tried at rhymes; Even I for once produced some verses, And sign'd my odes 'Despairing Thyrsis.[134]' There was a certain Palatine,[135]155 A count of far and high descent, Rich as a salt or silver mine; And he was proud, ye may divine, As if from heaven he had been sent. He had such wealth in blood and ore160 As few could match beneath the throne; And he would gaze upon his store, And o'er his pedigree would pore, Until by some confusion led, Which almost look'd like want of head,165 He thought their merits were his own. His wife was not of his opinion— His junior she by thirty years— Grew daily tired of his dominion; And, after wishes, hopes, and fears,170 To virtue a few farewell tears, A restless dream or two, some glances At Warsaw's youth, some songs, and dances, Awaited but the usual chances, (Those happy accidents which render175 The coldest dames so very tender,) To deck her Count with titles given, 'Tis said, as passports into heaven; But, strange to say, they rarely boast Of these, who have deserved them most.180

V

"I was a goodly stripling then; At seventy years I so may say, That there were few, or boys or men, Who, in my dawning time of day, Of vassal or of knight's degree,185 Could vie in vanities with me; For I had strength, youth, gaiety, A port, not like to this ye see, But as smooth as all is rugged now; For time, and care, and war, have plough'd190 My very soul from out my brow; And thus I should be disavow'd By all my kind and kin, could they Compare my day and yesterday. This change was wrought, too, long ere age195 Had ta'en my features for his page: With years, ye know, have not declined My strength, my courage, or my mind, Or at this hour I should not be Telling old tales beneath a tree,200 With starless skies my canopy. But let me on: Theresa's form— Methinks it glides before me now, Between me and yon chestnut's bough, The memory is so quick and warm;205 And yet I find no words to tell The shape of her I loved so well. She had the Asiatic eye, Such as our Turkish neighbourhood, Hath mingled with our Polish blood,210 Dark as above us is the sky; But through it stole a tender light, Like the first moonrise of midnight; Large, dark, and swimming in the stream, Which seem'd to melt to its own beam;215 All love, half languor, and half fire, Like saints that at the stake expire, And lift their raptured looks on high As though it were a joy to die;— A brow like a midsummer lake,220 Transparent with the sun therein, When waves no murmur dare to make, And heaven beholds her face within; A cheek and lip—but why proceed? I loved her then—I love her still;225 And such as I am, love indeed In fierce extremes—in good and ill; But still we love even in our rage, And haunted to our very age With the vain shadow of the past,230 As is Mazeppa to the last.

VI

"We met—we gazed—I saw, and sigh'd, She did not speak, and yet replied: There are ten thousand tones and signs We hear and see, but none defines—235 Involuntary sparks of thought, Which strike from out the heart o'erwrought[136] And form a strange intelligence Alike mysterious and intense, Which link the burning chain that binds,240 Without their will, young hearts and minds: Conveying, as the electric wire, We know not how, the absorbing fire.— I saw, and sigh'd—in silence wept, And still reluctant distance kept,245 Until I was made known to her, And we might then and there confer Without suspicion—then, even then, I long'd, and was resolved to speak; But on my lips they died again,250 The accents tremulous and weak, Until one hour.—There is a game, A frivolous and foolish play, Wherewith we while away the day; It is—I have forgot the name—255 And we to this, it seems, were set, By some strange chance, which I forget: I reckon'd not if I won or lost, It was enough for me to be So near to hear, and oh! to see260 The being whom I loved the most. I watch'd her as a sentinel, (May ours this dark night watch as well!) Until I saw, and thus it was, That she was pensive, nor perceived265 Her occupation, nor was grieved Nor glad to lose or gain; but still Play'd on for hours, as if her will Yet bound her to the place, though not That hers might be the winning lot.270 Then through my brain the thought did pass Even as a flash of lightning there, That there was something in her air Which would not doom me to despair; And on the thought my words broke forth,275 All incoherent as they were— Their eloquence was little worth, But yet she listen'd—'tis enough— Who listens once will listen twice; Her heart, be sure, is not of ice,280 And one refusal no rebuff.

VII

"I loved, and was beloved again— They tell me, sire, you never knew Those gentle frailties; if 'tis true, I shorten all my joy or pain;285 To you 'twould seem absurd as vain; But all men are not born to reign, Or o'er their passions, or as you Thus o'er themselves and nations too. I am—or rather was—a prince,290 A chief of thousands, and could lead Them on where each would foremost bleed; But could not o'er myself evince The like control.—But to resume: I loved, and was beloved again;295 In sooth, it is a happy doom, But yet where happiest ends in pain.— We met in secret, and the hour Which led me to that lady's bower Was fiery Expectation's dower.300 My days and nights were nothing—all Except that hour which doth recall In the long lapse from youth to age No other like itself—I'd give The Ukraine back again to live305 It o'er once more—and be a page, The happy page, who was the lord Of one soft heart and his own sword, And had no other gem nor wealth Save nature's gift of youth and health.—310 We met in secret—doubly sweet, Some say, they find it so to meet; I know not that—I would have given My life but to have call'd her mine In the full view of earth and heaven;315 For I did oft and long repine That we could only meet by stealth.

VIII

"For lovers there are many eyes, And such there were on us;—the devil On such occasions should be civil—320 The devil!—I'm loth to do him wrong, It might be some untoward saint, Who would not be at rest too long But to his pious bile gave vent— But one fair night, some lurking spies325 Surprised and seized us both. The Count was something more than wroth— I was unarm'd; but if in steel, All cap-à-pie[137] from head to heel, What 'gainst their numbers could I do?—330 'Twas near his castle, far away From city or from succour near, And almost on the break of day; I did not think to see another, My moments seem'd reduced to few;335 And with one prayer to Mary Mother, And, it may be, a saint or two, As I resign'd me to my fate, They led me to the castle gate: Theresa's doom I never knew,340 Our lot was henceforth separate— An angry man, ye may opine, Was he, the proud Count Palatine; And he had reason good to be, But he was most enraged lest such345 An accident should chance to touch Upon his future pedigree; Nor less amazed, that such a blot His noble 'scutcheon[138] should have got, While he was highest of his line;350 Because unto himself he seem'd The first of men, nor less he deem'd In others' eyes, and most in mine. 'Sdeath! with a page—perchance a king Had reconciled him to the thing;355 But with a stripling of a page— I felt—but cannot paint his rage.

IX

"'Bring forth the horse!'—the horse was brought; In truth, he was a noble steed, A Tartar of the Ukraine breed,360 Who look'd as though the speed of thought Were in his limbs; but he was wild, Wild as the wild deer, and untaught, With spur and bridle undefined— 'Twas but a day he had been caught;365 And snorting, with erected mane, And struggling fiercely, but in vain, In the full foam of wrath and dread To me the desert-born was led. They bound me on, that menial throng,370 Upon his back with many a thong; They loosed him with a sudden lash— Away!—away!—and on we dash!— Torrents less rapid and less rash.

X

"Away!—away!—My breath was gone—375 I saw not where he hurried on: 'Twas scarcely yet the break of day, And on he foam'd—away!—away!— The last of human sounds which rose, As I was darted from my foes,380 Was the wild shout of savage laughter, Which on the wind came roaring after A moment from that rabble rout: With sudden wrath I wrench'd my head, And snapp'd the cord, which to the mane385 Had bound my neck in lieu of rein, And writhing half my form about, Howl'd back my curse; but 'midst the tread, The thunder of my courser's speed, Perchance they did not hear nor heed:390 It vexes me—for I would fain Have paid their insult back again. I paid it well in after days: There is not of that castle gate, Its drawbridge and portcullis' weight,395 Stone, bar, moat, bridge, or barrier left; Nor of its fields a blade of grass, Save what grows on a ridge of wall Where stood the hearth-stone of the hall; And many a time ye there might pass,400 Nor dream that e'er that fortress was: I saw its turrets in a blaze, Their crackling battlements all cleft, And the hot lead pour down like rain From off the scorch'd and blackening roof,405 Whose thickness was not vengeance-proof. They little thought that day of pain, When launch'd, as on the lightning's flash, They bade me to destruction dash, That one day I should come again,410 With twice five thousand horse, to thank The Count for his uncourteous ride. They play'd me then a bitter prank, When, with the wild horse for my guide, They bound me to his foaming flank:415 At length I play'd them one as frank— For time at last sets all things even— And if we do but watch the hour, There never yet was human power Which could evade, if unforgiven,420 The patient search and vigil long Of him who treasures up a wrong.

XI

"Away, away, my steed and I, Upon the pinions of the wind. All human dwellings left behind;425 We sped like meteors through the sky, When with its crackling sound the night Is chequer'd with the northern light. Town—village—none were on our track, But a wild plain of far extent,430 And bounded by a forest black; And, save the scarce seen battlement On distant heights of some stronghold, Against the Tartars built of old, No trace of man: the year before435 A Turkish army had march'd o'er; And where the Spahi's[139] hoof hath trod, The verdure flies the bloody sod. The sky was dull, and dim, and gray, And a low breeze crept moaning by—440 I could have answer'd with a sigh— But fast we fled, away, away— And I could neither sigh nor pray; And my cold sweat-drops fell like rain Upon the courser's bristling mane;445 But, snorting still with rage and fear, He flew upon his far career. At times I almost thought, indeed, He must have slacken'd in his speed; But no—my bound and slender frame450 Was nothing to his angry might, And merely like a spur became: Each motion which I made to free My swoln limbs from their agony Increased his fury and affright:455 I tried my voice,—'twas faint and low, But yet he swerved as from a blow; And, starting to each accent, sprang As from a sudden trumpet's clang. Meantime my cords were wet with gore,460 Which, oozing through my limbs, ran o'er; And in my tongue the thirst became A something fierier far than flame.

XII

"We near'd the wild wood—'twas so wide, I saw no bounds on either side;465 'Twas studded with old sturdy trees, That bent not to the roughest breeze Which howls down from Siberia's waste And strips the forest in its haste,— But these were few and far between,470 Set thick with shrubs more young and green, Luxuriant with their annual leaves, Ere strown by those autumnal eves That nip the forest's foliage dead, Discolour'd with a lifeless red,475 Which stands thereon like stiffen'd gore Upon the slain when battle's o'er, And some long winter's night hath shed Its frost o'er every tombless head, So cold and stark the raven's beak480 May peck unpierced each frozen cheek. 'Twas a wild waste of underwood, And here and there a chestnut stood, The strong oak, and the hardy pine; But far apart—and well it were,485 Or else a different lot were mine— The boughs gave way, and did not tear My limbs; and I found strength to bear My wounds already scarr'd with cold— My bonds forbade to loose my hold.490 We rustled through the leaves like wind, Left shrubs, and trees, and wolves behind; By night I heard them on the track, Their troop came hard upon our back, With their long gallop which can tire495 The hound's deep hate and hunter's fire: Where'er we flew they follow'd on, Nor left us with the morning sun; Behind I saw them, scarce a rood, At daybreak winding through the wood,500 And through the night had heard their feet Their stealing, rustling step repeat. Oh! how I wish'd for spear or sword, At least to die amidst the horde, And perish—if it must be so—505 At bay, destroying many a foe. When first my courser's race begun, I wish'd the goal already won; But now I doubted strength and speed. Vain doubt! his swift and savage breed510 Had nerved him like the mountain-roe; Nor faster falls the blinding snow Which whelms the peasant near the door Whose threshold he shall cross no more, Bewilder'd with the dazzling blast,515 Than through the forest-paths he past— Untired, untamed, and worse than wild; All furious as a favour'd child Balk'd of its wish; or fiercer still— A woman piqued—who has her will.520

XIII

"The wood was past; 'twas more than noon, But chill the air although in June; Or it might be my veins ran cold— Prolong'd endurance tames the bold; And I was then not what I seem,525 But headlong as a wintry stream, And wore my feelings out before I well could count their causes o'er. And what with fury, fear, and wrath, The tortures which beset my path,530 Cold, hunger, sorrow, shame, distress, Thus bound in nature's nakedness, (Sprung from a race whose rising blood When stirr'd beyond its calmer mood, And trodden hard upon, is like535 The rattlesnake's in act to strike,) What marvel if this worn-out trunk Beneath its woes a moment sunk? The earth gave way, the skies roll'd round, I seem'd to sink upon the ground;540 But err'd, for I was fastly bound. My heart turn'd sick, my brain grew sore, And throbb'd awhile, then beat no more; The skies spun like a mighty wheel; I saw the trees like drunkards reel,545 And a slight flash sprang o'er my eyes, Which saw no farther: he who dies Can die no more than then I died. O'ertortured by that ghastly ride, I felt the blackness come and go,550 And strove to wake; but could not make My senses climb up from below: I felt as on a plank at sea, When all the waves that dash o'er thee, At the same time upheave and whelm,555 And hurl thee towards a desert realm. My undulating life was as The fancied lights that flitting pass Our shut eyes in deep midnight, when Fever begins upon the brain;560 But soon it pass'd, with little pain, But a confusion worse than such: I own that I should deem it much, Dying, to feel the same again; And yet I do suppose we must565 Feel far more ere we turn to dust: No matter; I have bared my brow Full in Death's face—before—and now.

XIV

"My thoughts came back; where was I? Cold, And numb, and giddy: pulse by pulse570 Life reassumed its lingering hold, And throb by throb: till grown a pang Which for a moment would convulse, My blood reflow'd though thick and chill; My ear with uncouth[140] noises rang,575 My heart began once more to thrill; My sight return'd, though dim, alas! And thicken'd, as it were, with glass. Methought the dash of waves was nigh: There was a gleam too of the sky,580 Studded with stars;—it is no dream; The wild horse swims the wilder stream! The bright broad river's gushing tide Sweeps, winding onward, far and wide, And we are half-way, struggling o'er585 To yon unknown and silent shore. The waters broke my hollow trance, And with a temporary strength My stiffen'd limbs were rebaptized. My courser's broad breast proudly braves590 And dashes off the ascending waves, And onward we advance! We reach the slippery shore at length, A haven I but little prized, For all behind was dark and drear,595 And all before was night and fear. How many hours of night or day In those suspended pangs I lay, I could not tell; I scarcely knew If this were human breath I drew.600

XV

"With glossy skin, and dripping mane, And reeling limbs, and reeking flank, The wild steed's sinewy nerves still strain Up the repelling bank. We gain the top: a boundless plain605 Spreads through the shadow of the night, And onward, onward, onward, seems, Like precipices in our dreams, To stretch beyond the sight; And here and there a speck of white,610 Or scatter'd spot of dusky green, In masses broke into the light, As rose the moon upon my right. But nought distinctly seen In the dim waste would indicate615 The omen of a cottage gate; No twinkling taper from afar Stood like a hospitable star; Not even an ignis-fatuus[141] rose To make him merry with my woes:620 That very cheat had cheer'd me then! Although detected, welcome still, Reminding me, through every ill, Of the abodes of men.

XVI

"Onward we went—but slack and slow;625 His savage force at length o'erspent, The drooping courser, faint and low, All feebly foaming went. A sickly infant had had power To guide him forward in that hour;630 But useless all to me. His new-born tameness nought avail'd— My limbs were bound; my force had fail'd, Perchance, had they been free. With feeble effort still I tried635 To rend the bonds so starkly tied— But still it was in vain; My limbs were only wrung the more, And soon the idle strife gave o'er, Which but prolong'd their pain.640 The dizzy race seem'd almost done, Although no goal was nearly won: Some streaks announced the coming sun— How slow, alas! he came! Methought that mist of dawning gray645 Would never dapple into day; How heavily it roll'd away— Before the eastern flame Rose crimson, and deposed the stars, And call'd the radiance from their cars,650 And filled the earth, from his deep throne, With lonely lustre, all his own.

XVII

"Up rose the sun; the mists were curl'd Back from the solitary world Which lay around—behind—before;655 What booted it to traverse o'er Plain, forest, river? Man nor brute, Nor dint of hoof, nor print of foot, Lay in the wild luxuriant soil; No sign of travel—none of toil;660 The very air was mute; And not an insect's shrill small horn, Nor matin bird's new voice was borne From herb nor thicket. Many a werst,[142] Panting as if his heart would burst,665 The weary brute still stagger'd on; And still we were—or seem'd—alone. At length, while reeling on our way, Methought I heard a courser neigh From out yon tuft of blackening firs.670 Is it the wind those branches stirs? No, no! from out the forest prance A trampling troop; I see them come! In one vast squadron they advance! I strove to cry—my lips were dumb.675 The steeds rush on in plunging pride; But where are they the reins to guide? A thousand horse—and none to ride! With flowing tail, and flying mane, Wide nostrils—never stretched by pain,680 Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein, And feet that iron never shod, And flanks unscarr'd by spur or rod, A thousand horse, the wild, the free, Like waves that follow o'er the sea,685 Came thickly thundering on, As if our faint approach to meet. The sight re-nerved my courser's feet, A moment staggering, feebly fleet, A moment, with a faint low neigh,690 He answer'd, and then fell; With gasps and glazing eyes he lay, And reeking limbs immoveable; His first and last career is done! On came the troop—they saw him stoop,695 They saw me strangely bound along His back with many a bloody thong: They stop—they start—they snuff the air, Gallop a moment here and there, Approach, retire, wheel round and round,700 Then plunging back with sudden bound, Headed by one black mighty steed Who seem'd the patriarch of his breed, Without a single speck or hair Of white upon his shaggy hide.705 They snort—they foam—neigh—swerve aside, And backward to the forest fly, By instinct, from a human eye.— They left me there to my despair, Link'd to the dead and stiffening wretch,710 Whose lifeless limbs beneath me stretch, Relieved from that unwonted weight, From whence I could not extricate Nor him nor me—and there we lay The dying on the dead!715 I little deem'd another day Would see my houseless, helpless head.

"And there from morn till twilight bound, I felt the heavy hours toil round, With just enough of life to see720 My last of suns go down on me, In hopeless certainty of mind, That makes us feel at length resign'd To that which our foreboding years Presents the worst and last of fears725 Inevitable—even a boon, Nor more unkind for coming soon; Yet shunn'd and dreaded with such care, As if it only were a snare That prudence might escape:730 At times both wish'd for and implored, At times sought with self-pointed sword, Yet still a dark and hideous close To even intolerable woes, And welcome in no shape.735 And, strange to say, the sons of pleasure, They who have revell'd beyond measure In beauty, wassail, wine, and treasure, Die calm, or calmer oft than he Whose heritage was misery:740 For he who hath in turn run through All that was beautiful and new, Hath nought to hope, and nought to leave; And, save the future (which is view'd Not quite as men are base or good,745 But as their nerves may be endued,) With nought perhaps to grieve:— The wretch still hopes his woes must end, And Death, whom he should deem his friend, Appears, to his distemper'd eyes,750 Arrived to rob him of his prize, The tree of his new Paradise. To-morrow would have given him all, Repaid his pangs, repair'd his fall; To-morrow would have been the first755 Of days no more deplored or curst, But bright, and long, and beckoning years, Seen dazzling through the mist of tears, Guerdon of many a painful hour; To-morrow would have given him power760 To rule, to shine, to smite, to save— And must it dawn upon his grave?

XVIII

"The sun was sinking—still I lay Chain'd to the chill and stiffening steed; I thought to mingle there our clay;765 And my dim eyes of death had need, No hope arose of being freed. I cast my last looks up the sky, And there between me and the sun I saw the expecting raven fly,770 Who scarce would wait till both should die Ere his repast begun. He flew, and perch'd, then flew once more, And each time nearer than before; I saw his wing through twilight flit,775 And once so near me he alit I could have smote, but lack'd the strength; But the slight motion of my hand, And feeble scratching of the sand, The exerted throat's faint struggling noise,780 Which scarcely could be call'd a voice, Together scared him off at length.— I know no more—my latest dream Is something of a lovely star Which fix'd my dull eyes from afar,785 And went and came with wandering beam, And of the cold, dull, swimming, dense Sensation of recurring sense, And then subsiding back to death, And then again a little breath,790 A little thrill, a short suspense, An icy sickness curdling o'er My heart, and sparks that cross'd my brain— A gasp, a throb, a start of pain, A sigh, and nothing more.795

XIX

"I woke—Where was I?—Do I see A human face look down on me? And doth a roof above me close? Do these limbs on a couch repose? Is this a chamber where I lie?800 And is it mortal, yon bright eye That watches me with gentle glance? I closed my own again once more, As doubtful that the former trance Could not as yet be o'er.805 A slender girl, long-hair'd, and tall, Sate watching by the cottage wall: The sparkle of her eye I caught, Even with my first return of thought; For ever and anon she threw810 A prying, pitying glance on me With her black eyes so wild and free. I gazed, and gazed, until I knew No vision it could be,— But that I lived, and was released815 From adding to the vulture's feast. And when the Cossack maid beheld My heavy eyes at length unseal'd, She smiled—and I essay'd to speak, But fail'd—and she approach'd, and made820 With lip and finger signs that said, I must not strive as yet to break The silence, till my strength should be Enough to leave my accents free; And then her hand on mine she laid,825 And smooth'd the pillow for my head, And stole along on tiptoe tread, And gently oped the door, and spake In whispers—ne'er was voice so sweet! Even music follow'd her light feet;—830 But those she call'd were not awake, And she went forth; but, ere she pass'd, Another look on me she cast, Another sign she made, to say, That I had nought to fear, that all835 Were near at my command or call, And she would not delay Her due return:—while she was gone, Methought I felt too much alone.

XX

"She came with mother and with sire—840 What need of more?—I will not tire With long recital of the rest, Since I became the Cossack's guest. They found me senseless on the plain— They bore me to the nearest hut—845 They brought me into life again— Me—one day o'er their realm to reign! Thus the vain fool who strove to glut His rage, refining on my pain, Sent me forth to the wilderness,850 Bound, naked, bleeding, and alone, To pass the desert to a throne,— What mortal his own doom may guess?— Let none despond, let none despair! To-morrow the Borysthenes855 May see our coursers graze at ease Upon his Turkish bank,—and never Had I such welcome for a river As I shall yield when safely there. Comrades, good night!"—The Hetman threw860 His length beneath the oak-tree shade, With leafy couch already made, A bed nor comfortless nor new To him who took his rest whene'er The hour arrived, no matter where:865 His eyes the hastening slumbers steep. And if ye marvel Charles forgot To thank his tale he wonder'd not,— The king had been an hour asleep.

[THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB]

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,5 That host with their banners at sunset were seen: Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;10 And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride; And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,15 And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail, And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.20

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

[JOHN KEATS]

THE EVE OF ST. AGNES

I

St. Agnes' Eve—Ah, bitter chill it was! The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold; The hare limp'd trembling through the frozen grass, And silent was the flock in woolly fold: Numb were the Beadsman's[143] fingers, while he told5 His rosary, and while his frosted breath, Like pious incense from a censer old, Seem'd taking flight for heaven, without a death, Past the sweet Virgin's picture, while his prayer he saith.

II

His prayer he saith, this patient, holy man;10 Then takes his lamp, and riseth from his knees And back returneth, meagre, barefoot, wan, Along the chapel aisle by slow degrees: The sculptured dead, on each side, seem to freeze, Emprison'd in black, purgatorial rails:15 Knights, ladies, praying in dumb orat'ries, He passeth by; and his weak spirit fails To think how they may ache in icy hoods and mails.

III

Northward he turneth through a little door, And scarce three steps, ere Music's golden tongue20 Flatter'd to tears this aged man and poor; But no—already had his death-bell rung; The joys of all his life were said and sung: His was harsh penance on St. Agnes' Eve; Another way he went, and soon among25 Rough ashes sat he for his soul's reprieve, And all night kept awake, for sinners' sake to grieve.

IV

That ancient Beadsman heard the prelude soft; And so it chanced, for many a door was wide, From hurry to and fro. Soon, up aloft,30 The silver, snarling[144] trumpets 'gan to chide: The level chambers, ready with their pride, Were glowing to receive a thousand guests: The carved angels, ever eager-eyed, Stared, where upon their heads the cornice rests,35 With hair blown back, and wings put crosswise on their breasts.

V

At length burst in the argent revelry, With plume, tiara, and all rich array, Numerous as shadows haunting fairily The brain, new-stuff'd, [145]in youth, with triumphs gay40 Of old romance. These let us wish away, And turn, sole-thoughted, to one Lady there, Whose heart had brooded, all that wintry day, On love, and wing'd St. Agnes' saintly care, As she had heard old dames full many times declare.45

VI

They told her how, upon St. Agnes' Eve,[146] Young virgins might have visions of delight, And soft adorings from their loves receive Upon the honey'd middle of the night, If ceremonies due they did aright;50 As, supperless to bed they must retire, And couch supine their beauties, lily white; Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require Of Heaven with upward eyes for all that they desire.

VII

Full of this whim was thoughtful Madeline:55 The music, yearning like a God in pain, She scarcely heard: her maiden eyes divine, Fix'd on the floor, saw many a sweeping train Pass by—she heeded not at all: in vain Came many a tiptoe, amorous cavalier,60 And back retired; not cool'd by high disdain, But she saw not: her heart was otherwhere; She sigh'd for Agnes' dreams, the sweetest of the year.

VIII

She danced along with vague, regardless eyes, Anxious her lips, her breathing quick and short:65 The hallow'd hour was near at hand: she sighs Amid the timbrels, and the throng'd resort Of whisperers in anger, or in sport; 'Mid looks of love, defiance, hate, and scorn, Hoodwink'd with faery fancy; all amort,[147]70 Save to St. Agnes and her lambs[148] unshorn, And all the bliss to be before to-morrow morn.

IX

So, purposing each moment to retire, She lingered still. Meantime, across the moors, Had come young Porphyro,[149] with heart on fire75 For Madeline. Beside the portal doors, Buttress'd[150] from moonlight, stands he, and implores All saints to give him sight of Madeline, But for one moment in the tedious hours, That he might gaze and worship all unseen;80 Perchance speak, kneel, touch, kiss—in sooth[151] such things have been.

X

He ventures in: let no buzz'd whisper tell: All eyes be muffled, or a hundred swords Will storm his heart, Love's fev'rous citadel: For him, those chambers held barbarian hordes,85 Hyena[152] foemen, and hot-blooded lords, Whose very dogs would execrations howl Against his lineage: not one breast affords Him any mercy, in that mansion foul, Save one old beldame,[153] weak in body and in soul.90

XI

Ah, happy chance! the aged creature came, Shuffling along with ivory-headed wand, To where he stood, hid from the torch's flame, Behind a broad hall-pillar, far beyond The sound of merriment and chorus bland:95 He startled her; but soon she knew his face, And grasp'd his fingers in her palsied hand, Saying, "Mercy, Porphyro! hie thee from this place; They are all here to-night, the whole bloodthirsty race!

XII

"Get hence! get hence! there's dwarfish Hildebrand;100 He had a fever late, and in the fit He cursed thee and thine, both house and land: Then there's that old Lord Maurice, not a whit More tame for his gray hairs—Alas me! flit! Flit like a ghost away."—Ah, Gossip[154] dear,105 We're safe enough; here in this armchair sit, And tell me how"—"Good Saints! not here, not here; Follow me, child, or else these stones will be thy bier."

XIII

He follow'd through a lowly arched way, Brushing the cobwebs with his lofty plume;110 And as she mutter'd "Well-a—well-a-day!" He found him in a little moonlight room, Pale, latticed, chill, and silent as a tomb. "Now tell me where is Madeline," said he, "O tell me, Angela, by the holy loom[155]115 Which none but secret sisterhood may see, When they St. Agnes' wool are weaving piously."

XIV

"St. Agnes! Ah! it is St. Agnes' Eve— Yet men will murder upon holy days: Thou must hold water in a witch's sieve,[156]120 And be liege-lord of all the Elves and Fays, To venture so: it fills me with amaze To see thee, Porphyro!—St. Agnes' Eve! God's help! my lady fair the conjuror plays This very night: good angels her deceive!125 But let me laugh awhile, I've mickle[157] time to grieve."

XV

Feebly she laugheth in the languid moon, While Porphyro upon her face doth look, Like puzzled urchin on an aged crone Who keepeth closed a wond'rous riddlebook,130 As spectacled she sits in chimney nook. But soon his eyes grew brilliant, when she told His lady's purpose; and he scarce could brook Tears, at the thought of those enchantments cold, And Madeline asleep in lap[158] of legends old.135

XVI

Sudden a thought came like a full-blown rose, Flushing his brow, and in his pained heart Made purple riot[159]: then doth he propose A stratagem, that makes the beldame start: "A cruel man and impious thou art:140 Sweet lady, let her pray, and sleep, and dream Alone with her good angels, far apart From wicked men like thee. Go, go! I deem Thou canst not surely be the same that thou didst seem."

XVII

"I will not harm her, by all saints I swear,"145 Quoth Porphyro: "O may I ne'er find grace When my weak voice shall whisper its last prayer, If one of her soft ringlets I displace, Or look with ruffian passion in her face: Good Angela, believe me by these tears;150 Or I will, even in a moment's space, Awake, with horrid shout, my foemen's ears, And beard them, though they be more fang'd than wolves and bears."

XVIII

"Ah! why wilt thou affright a feeble soul? A poor, weak, palsy-stricken, church-yard thing,155 Whose passing-bell may ere the midnight toll; Whose prayers for thee, each morn and evening, Were never miss'd." Thus plaining, doth she bring A gentler speech from burning Porphyro; So woful, and of such deep sorrowing,160 That Angela gives promise she will do Whatever he shall wish, betide her weal or woe.

XIX

Which was, to lead him, in close secrecy, Even to Madeline's chamber, and there hide Him in a closet, of such privacy165 That he might see her beauty unespied, And win perhaps that night a peerless bride, While legion'd fairies paced the coverlet, And pale enchantment held her sleepy-eyed. Never on such a night have lovers met,170 Since Merlin[160] paid his Demon all the monstrous debt.

XX

"It shall be as thou wishest," said the Dame: "All cates[161] and dainties shall be stored there Quickly on this feast-night: by the tambour frame[162] Her own lute thou wilt see: no time to spare,175 For I am slow and feeble, and scarce dare On such a catering trust my dizzy head. Wait here, my child, with patience; kneel in prayer The while: Ah! thou must needs the lady wed, Or may I never leave my grave among the dead."180

XXI

So saying she hobbled off with busy fear. The lover's endless minutes slowly pass'd; The Dame return'd, and whisper'd in his ear To follow her; with aged eyes aghast From fright of dim espial. Safe at last,185 Through many a dusky gallery, they gain The maiden's chamber, silken, hush'd and chaste; Where Porphyro took covert, pleased amain. His poor guide hurried back with agues in her brain.

XXII

Her falt'ring hand upon the balustrade,190 Old Angela was feeling for the stair, When Madeline, St. Agnes' charmed maid, Rose, like a mission'd spirit, unaware: With silver taper's light, and pious care, She turn'd, and down the aged gossip led195 To a safe level matting. Now prepare, Young Porphyro, for gazing on that bed; She comes, she comes again, like ring-dove fray'd and fled.

XXIII

Out went the taper as she hurried in; Its little smoke, in pallid moonshine, died:200 She closed the door, she panted, all akin To spirits of the air, and visions wide: No uttered syllable, or, woe betide! But to her heart, her heart was voluble, Paining with eloquence her balmy side;205 As though a tongueless nightingale should swell Her throat in vain, and die, heart-stifled in her dell.

XXIV

A casement high[163] and triple arch'd there was, All garlanded with carven imag'ries Of fruits, and flowers, and bunches of knot-grass,210 And diamonded with panes of quaint device, Innumerable of stains and splendid dyes, As are the tiger-moth's deep-damask'd wings; And in the midst, 'mong thousand heraldries,[164] And twilight saints, and dim emblazonings,[165]215 A shielded scutcheon blush'd with blood of queens and kings.

XXV

Full on this casement shone the wintry moon, And threw warm gules[166] on Madeline's fair breast, As down she knelt for heaven's grace and boon; Rose-bloom fell on her hands, together prest,220 And on her silver cross soft amethyst, And on her hair a glory, like a saint: She seem'd a splendid angel, newly drest, Save wings, for heaven:—Porphyro grew faint; She knelt, so pure a thing, so free from mortal taint.225

XXVI

Anon his heart revives: her vespers done, Of all its wreathed pearls her hair she frees; Unclasps her warmed jewels one by one; Loosens her fragrant bodice; by degrees Her rich attire creeps rustling to her knees:230 Half-hidden, like a mermaid in sea-weed, Pensive awhile she dreams awake, and sees, In fancy, fair St. Agnes in her bed, But dares not look behind, or all the charm is fled.

XXVII

Soon, trembling in her soft and chilly nest,235 In sort of wakeful swoon, perplex'd she lay, Until the poppied warmth of sleep oppress'd Her soothed limbs, and soul fatigued away; Flown, like a thought, until the morrow-day; Blissfully haven'd both from joy and pain;240 Clasp'd like a missal[167] where swart Paynims pray; Blinded alike from sunshine and from rain, As though a rose should shut, and be a bud again.

XXVIII

Stol'n to this paradise, and so entranced, Porphyro gazed upon her empty dress,245 And listen'd to her breathing, if it chanced To wake into a slumberous tenderness; Which when he heard, that minute did he bless, And breathed himself: then from the closet crept, Noiseless as fear in a wide wilderness,250 And over the hush'd carpet, silent, stept, And 'tween the curtains peep'd, where, lo!—how fast she slept.

XXIX

Then by the bed-side, where the faded moon Made a dim, silver twilight, soft he set A table, and, half anguish'd, threw thereon255 A cloth of woven crimson, gold, and jet:— O for some drowsy Morphean[168] amulet! The boisterous, midnight, festive clarion, The kettle-drum, and far-heard clarionet, Affray his ears, though but in dying tone:—260 The hall-door shuts again, and all the noise is gone.

XXX

And still she slept an azure-lidded sleep,[169] In blanched linen, smooth, and lavender'd, While he from forth the closet brought a heap Of candied apple, quince, and plum, and gourd;265 With jellies soother[170] than the creamy curd, And lucent[171] syrops, tinct with cinnamon; Manna and dates, in argosy transferr'd From Fez; and spiced dainties, every one, From silken Samarcand to cedar'd Lebanon.270

XXXI

These delicates he heap'd with glowing hand On golden dishes and in baskets bright Of wreathed silver: sumptuous they stand In the retired quiet of the night, Filling the chilly room with perfume light.—275 "And now, my love, my seraph fair, awake! Thou art my heaven, and I thine eremite[172]: Open thine eyes, for meek St. Agnes' sake, Or I shall drowse beside thee, so my soul doth ache."

XXXII

Thus whispering, his warm, unnerved arm280 Sank in her pillow. Shaded was her dream By the dusk curtains:—'twas a midnight charm Impossible to melt as iced stream: The lustrous salvers in the moonlight gleam; Broad golden fringe upon the carpet lies:285 It seem'd he never, never could redeem From such a steadfast spell his lady's eyes; So mused awhile, entoil'd in woofed phantasies.

XXXIII

Awakening up, he took her hollow lute,— Tumultuous,—and, in chords that tenderest be.290 He play'd an ancient ditty, long since mute, In Provence call'd "La belle dame sans mercy:[173]" Close to her ear touching the melody;— Wherewith disturb'd, she utter'd a soft moan: He ceased—she panted quick—and suddenly295 Her blue affrayed eyes wide open shone: Upon his knees he sank, pale as smooth-sculptured stone.

XXXIV

Her eyes were open, but she still beheld, Now wide awake, the vision of her sleep: There was a painful change, that nigh expell'd300 The blisses of her dream so pure and deep At which fair Madeline began to weep, And moan forth witless words with many a sigh; While still her gaze on Porphyro would keep; Who knelt, with joined hands and piteous eye,305 Fearing to move or speak, she look'd so dreamingly.

XXXV

"Ah, Porphyro!" said she, "but even now Thy voice was at sweet tremble in mine ear, Made tuneable with every sweetest vow; And those sad eyes were spiritual and clear:310 How changed thou art! how pallid, chill, and drear! Give me that voice again, my Porphyro, Those looks immortal, those complainings dear! Oh leave me not in this eternal woe, For if thou diest, my Love, I know not where to go."315

XXXVI

Beyond a mortal man impassion'd far At these voluptuous accents, he arose, Ethereal, flush'd, and like a throbbing star Seen 'mid the sapphire heaven's deep repose; Into her dream he melted, as the rose320 Blendeth its odour with the violet,— Solution sweet: meantime the frost-wind blows Like Love's alarum pattering the sharp sleet Against the window-panes; St. Agnes' moon hath set.

XXXVII

'Tis dark: quick pattereth the flaw-blown sleet:325 "This is no dream, my bride, my Madeline!" 'Tis dark: the iced gusts still rave and beat: "No dream, alas! alas! and woe is mine! Porphyro will leave me here to fade and pine.— Cruel! what traitor could thee hither bring?330 I curse not, for my heart is lost in thine, Though thou forsakest a deceived thing;— A dove forlorn and lost with sick unpruned wing."

XXXVIII

"My Madeline! sweet dreamer! lovely bride! Say, may I be for aye thy vassal blest?335 Thy beauty's shield, heart-shaped and vermeil dyed? Ah, silver shrine, here will I take my rest After so many hours of toil and quest, A famish'd pilgrim,—saved by miracle. Though I have found, I will not rob thy nest340 Saving of thy sweet self; if thou think'st well To trust, fair Madeline, to no rude infidel.

XXXIX

"Hark! 'tis an elfin storm from faery land, Of haggard seeming, but a boon indeed: Arise—arise! the morning is at hand:—345 The bloated wassailers[174] will never heed:— Let us away, my love, with happy speed; There are no ears to hear, or eyes to see,— Drown'd all in Rhenish and the sleepy mead: Awake! arise! my love, and fearless be,350 For o'er the southern moors I have a home for thee."

XL

She hurried at his words, beset with fears, For there were sleeping dragons all around, At glaring watch, perhaps, with ready spears— Down the wide stairs a darkling way they found.—355 In all the house was heard no human sound. A chain-droop'd lamp was flickering by each door; The arras, rich with horseman, hawk, and hound, Flutter'd in the besieging wind's uproar; And the long carpets rose along the gusty floor.360

XLI

They glide, like phantoms, into the wide hall; Like phantoms to the iron porch they glide, Where lay the Porter, in uneasy sprawl, With a huge empty flagon by his side: The wakeful bloodhound rose, and shook his hide,365 But his sagacious eye an inmate owns: By one, and one, the bolts full easy slide:— The chains lie silent on the footworn stones;— The key turns, and the door upon its hinges groans;

XLII

And they are gone: aye, ages long ago370 These lovers fled away into the storm. That night the Baron dreamt of many a woe, And all his warrior-guests, with shade and form Of witch, and demon, and large coffin-worm, Were long be-nightmared. Angela[175] the old375 Died palsy-twitch'd, with meagre face deform; The Beadsman, after thousand aves told, For aye unsought-for slept among his ashes cold.

[ALFRED TENNYSON]

DORA

With farmer Allan at the farm abode William and Dora. William was his son, And she his niece. He often looked at them, And often thought, "I'll make them man and wife." Now Dora felt her uncle's will in all,5 And yearn'd towards William; but the youth, because He had been always with her in the house, Thought not of Dora. Then there came a day When Allan call'd his son, and said, "My son: I married late, but I would wish to see10 My grandchild on my knees before I die: And I have set my heart upon a match. Now therefore look to Dora; she is well To look to; thrifty too beyond her age. She is my brother's daughter: he and I15 Had once hard words, and parted, and he died In foreign lands; but for his sake I bred His daughter Dora: take her for your wife; For I have wish'd this marriage, night and day, For many years." But William answer'd short:20 "I cannot marry Dora; by my life, I will not marry Dora." Then the old man Was wroth, and doubled up his hands, and said: "You will not, boy! you dare to answer thus! But in my time a father's word was law,25 And so it shall be now for me. Look to it; Consider, William: take a month to think, And let me have an answer to my wish; Or, by the Lord that made me, you shall pack, And never more darken my doors again."30 But William answer'd madly; bit his lips, And broke away. The more he look'd at her The less he liked her; and his ways were harsh; But Dora bore them meekly. Then before The month was out he left his father's house,35 And hired himself to work within the fields; And half in love, half spite, he woo'd and wed A laborer's daughter, Mary Morrison. Then, when the bells were ringing, Allan call'd His niece and said: "My girl, I love you well;40 But if you speak with him that was my son, Or change a word with her he calls his wife, My home is none of yours. My will is law." And Dora promised, being meek. She thought, "It cannot be: my uncle's mind will change!"45 And days went on, and there was born a boy To William; then distresses came on him; And day by day he pass'd his father's gate, Heart-broken, and his father help'd him not. But Dora stored what little she could save,50 And sent it them by stealth, nor did they know Who sent it; till at last a fever seized On William, and in harvest time he died. Then Dora went to Mary. Mary sat And look'd with tears upon her boy, and thought55 Hard things of Dora. Dora came and said: "I have obey'd my uncle until now, And I have sinn'd, for it was all thro' me This evil came on William at the first. But, Mary, for the sake of him that's gone,60 And for your sake, the woman that he chose, And for this orphan, I am come to you: You know there has not been for these five years So full a harvest: let me take the boy, And I will set him in my uncle's eye65 Among the wheat; that when his heart is glad Of the full harvest, he may see the boy, And bless him for the sake of him that's gone." And Dora took the child, and went her way Across the wheat, and sat upon a mound70 That was unsown, where many poppies grew. Far off the farmer came into the field And spied her not; for none of all his men Dare tell him Dora waited with the child; And Dora would have risen and gone to him,75 But her heart fail'd her; and the reapers reap'd, And the sun fell, and all the land was dark. But when the morrow came, she rose and took The child once more, and sat upon the mound; And made a little wreath of all the flowers80 That grew about, and tied it round his hat To make him pleasing in her uncle's eye. Then when the farmer pass'd into the field He spied her, and he left his men at work, And came and said: "Where were you yesterday?85 Whose child is that? What are you doing here?" So Dora cast her eyes upon the ground, And answer'd softly, "This is William's child!" "And did I not," said Allan, "did I not Forbid you, Dora?" Dora said again:90 "Do with me as you will, but take the child, And bless him for the sake of him that's gone!" And Allan said, "I see it is a trick Got up betwixt you and the woman there. I must be taught my duty, and by you!95 You knew my word was law, and yet you dared To slight it. Well—for I will take the boy; But go you hence, and never see me more." So saying, he took the boy, that cried aloud And struggled hard. The wreath of flowers fell100 At Dora's feet. She bow'd upon her hands, And the boy's cry came to her from the field, More and more distant. She bow'd down her head, Remembering the day when first she came, And all the things that had been. She bow'd down105 And wept in secret; and the reapers reap'd, And the sun fell, and all the land was dark. Then Dora went to Mary's house, and stood Upon the threshold. Mary saw the boy Was not with Dora. She broke out in praise110 To God, that help'd her in her widowhood. And Dora said, "My uncle took the boy; But, Mary, let me live and work with you: He says that he will never see me more." Then answer'd Mary, "This shall never be,115 That thou shouldst take my trouble on thyself: And, now I think, he shall not have the boy, For he will teach him hardness, and to slight His mother; therefore thou and I will go, And I will have my boy, and bring him home;120 And I will beg of him to take thee back: But if he will not take thee back again, Then thou and I will live within one house, And work for William's child, until he grows Of age to help us." So the women kiss'd125 Each other, and set out, and reach'd the farm. The door was off the latch: they peep'd, and saw The boy set up betwixt his grandsire's knees, Who thrust him in the hollows of his arm, And clapt him on the hands and on the cheeks,130 Like one that loved him: and the lad stretch'd out And babbled for the golden seal, that hung From Allan's watch, and sparkled by the fire. Then they came in: but when the boy beheld His mother, he cried out to come to her:135 And Allan set him down, and Mary said: "O Father!—if you let me call you so— I never came a-begging for myself, Or William, or this child; but now I come For Dora: take her back; she loves you well.140 O Sir, when William died, he died at peace With all men; for I ask'd him, and he said, He could not ever rue his marrying me— I had been a patient wife: but, Sir, he said That he was wrong to cross his father thus:145 'God bless him!' he said, 'and may he never know The troubles I have gone thro'!' Then he turn'd His face and pass'd—unhappy that I am! But now, Sir, let me have my boy, for you Will make him hard, and he will learn to slight150 His father's memory; and take Dora back, And let all this be as it was before." So Mary said, and Dora hid her face By Mary. There was silence in the room; And all at once the old man burst in sobs:—155 "I have been to blame—to blame. I have kill'd my son. I have kill'd him—but I loved him—my dear son. May God forgive me!—I have been to blame. Kiss me, my children." Then they clung about The old man's neck, and kiss'd him many times160 And all the man was broken with remorse; And all his love came back a hundredfold; And for three hours he sobb'd o'er William's child, Thinking of William. So those four abode Within one house together; and as years165 Went forward, Mary took another mate; But Dora lived unmarried till her death.

[ŒNONE—1832]

There lies a vale in Ida,[176] lovelier Than all the valleys of Ionian[177] hills. The swimming vapour slopes athwart the glen, Puts forth an arm, and creeps from pine to pine, And loiters, slowly drawn. On either hand5 The lawns and meadow-ledges midway down Hang rich in flowers, and far below them roars The long brook falling thro' the clov'n ravine In cataract after cataract to the sea. Behind the valley topmost Gargarus[178]10 Stands up and takes the morning: but in front The gorges, opening wide apart, reveal Troas[179] and Ilion's[180] column'd citadel, The crown of Troas. Hither came at noon Mournful Œnone, wandering forlorn15 Of Paris,[181] once her playmate on the hills. Her cheek had lost the rose, and round her neck Floated her hair or seem'd to float in rest. She, leaning on a fragment twined with vine, Sang to the stillness, till the mountain-shade20 Sloped downward to her seat from the upper cliff.

"O mother Ida, many-fountain'd Ida, Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die. For now the noonday quiet holds the hill: The grasshopper is silent in the grass:25 The lizard, with his shadow on the stone, Rests like a shadow, and the winds are dead. The purple flower droops: the golden bee Is lily-cradled: I alone awake. My eyes are full of tears, my heart of love,30 My heart is breaking, and my eyes are dim, And I am all aweary of my life.

"O mother Ida, many-fountained Ida, Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die. Hear me, O Earth, hear me, O Hills, O Caves35 That house the cold crown'd snake! O mountain brooks, I am the daughter of a River-God,[182] Hear me, for I will speak, and build up all My sorrow with my song, as yonder walls Rose slowly to a music slowly breathed,[183]40 A cloud that gather'd shape: for it may be That, while I speak of it, a little while My heart may wander from its deeper woe.

"O mother Ida, many-fountain'd Ida, Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die.45 I waited underneath the dawning hills, Aloft the mountain lawn was dewy-dark, And dewy-dark aloft the mountain pine: Beautiful Paris, evil-hearted Paris, Leading a jet-black goat white-horn'd, white hooved,50 Came up from reedy Simois[184] all alone.

"O mother Ida, hearken ere I die. Far-off the torrent call'd me from the cleft: Far up the solitary morning smote The streaks of virgin snow. With down-dropt eyes55 I sat alone: white-breasted like a star Fronting the dawn he moved; a leopard skin Droop'd from his shoulder, but his sunny hair Cluster'd about his temples like a God's: And his cheek brightened as the foam-bow brightens60 When the wind blows the foam, and all my heart Went forth to embrace him coming ere he came.

"Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die. He smiled, and opening out his milk-white palm Disclosed a fruit of pure Hesperian[185] gold,65 That smelt ambrosially,[186] and while I look'd And listen'd, the full-flowing river of speech Came down upon my heart.

"'My own Œnone, Beautiful-brow'd Œnone, my own soul, Behold this fruit whose gleaming rind ingrav'n70 "For the most fair," would seem to award it thine As lovelier than whatever Oread[187] haunt The knolls of Ida, loveliest in all grace Of movement and the charm of married brows.'

"Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die.75 He prest the blossom of his lips to mine, And added, 'This was cast upon the board, When all the full-faced presence of the Gods Ranged in the halls of Peleus[188]; whereupon Rose feud, with question unto whom 'twere due:80 But light-foot Iris[189] brought it yester-eve, Delivering, that to me, by common voice Elected umpire, Herè[190] comes to-day, Pallas[191] and Aphroditè,[192] claiming each This meed of fairest. Thou, within the cave85 Behind yon whispering tuft of oldest pine, Mayst well behold them unbeheld, unheard Hear all, and see thy Paris judge of Gods.'

"Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die. It was the deep midnoon: one silvery cloud90 Had lost his way between the piney sides Of this long glen. Then to the bower they came, Naked they came to that smooth-swarded bower. And at their feet the crocus brake like fire, Violet, amaracus,[193] and asphodel,[194]95 Lotos and lilies: and a wind arose, And overhead the wandering ivy and vine, This way and that, in many a wild festoon Ran riot, garlanding the gnarled boughs With bunch and berry and flower thro' and thro'.100

"O mother Ida, hearken ere I die. On the tree-tops a crested peacock[195] lit, And o'er him flow'd a golden cloud, and lean'd Upon him, slowly dropping fragrant dew. Then first I heard the voice of her, to whom105 Coming thro' heaven like a light that grows Larger and clearer, with one mind the Gods Rise up for reverence. She to Paris made Proffer of royal power, ample rule Unquestion'd, overflowing revenue110 Wherewith to embellish state, 'from many a vale, And river-sunder'd champaign clothed with corn, Or labour'd mine undrainable of ore. Honour,' she said, 'and homage, tax and toll, From many an inland town and haven large,115 Mast-throng'd beneath her shadowing citadel In glassy bays among her tallest towers.'

"O mother Ida, hearken ere I die. Still she spake on and still she spake of power, 'Which in all action is the end of all;120 Power fitted to the season; wisdom-bred And throned of wisdom—from all neighbour crowns Alliance and allegiance, till thy hand Fail from the sceptre-staff. Such boon from me, From me, Heaven's Queen, Paris, to thee, king-born,125 A shepherd all thy life but yet king-born, Should come most welcome, seeing men, in power Only, are likest gods, who have attain'd Rest in a happy place and quiet seats Above the thunder, with undying bliss130 In knowledge of their own supremacy.'

"Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die. She ceased, and Paris held the costly fruit Out at arm's-length, so much the thought of power Flatter'd his spirit; but Pallas where she stood135 Somewhat apart, her clear and bared limbs O'erthwarted with the brazen-headed spear Upon her pearly shoulder leaning cold, The while, above, her clear and earnest eye Over her snow-cold breast and angry cheek140 Kept watch, waiting decision, made reply.

"'Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, These three alone lead life to sovereign power. Yet not for power (power of herself Would come uncall'd for) but to live by law,145 Acting the law we live by without fear; And, because right is right, to follow right Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence.'

"Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die. Again she said: 'I woo thee not with gifts.150 Sequel of guerdon[196] could not alter me To fairer. Judge thou me by what I am, So shalt thou find me fairest. Yet indeed, If gazing on divinity disrobed Thy mortal eyes are frail to judge, of fair,155 Unbias'd by self-profit, oh! rest thee sure, That I shall love thee well and cleave to thee, So that my vigour wedded to thy blood, Shall strike within thy pulses, like a God's To push thee forward thro' a life of shocks,160 Dangers, and deeds, until endurance grow Sinew'd with action, and the full-grown will, Circled thro' all experiences, pure law, Commeasure perfect freedom.'

'Here she ceas'd, And Paris ponder'd, and I cried, 'O Paris,165 Give it to Pallas!' but he heard me not, Or hearing would not hear me, woe is me!

"O mother Ida, many-fountain'd Ida, Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die. Idalian[197] Aphroditè beautiful,170 Fresh as the foam, new-bathed in Paphian[198] wells, With rosy slender fingers backward drew From her warm brows and bosom her deep hair Ambrosial, golden round her lucid throat And shoulder: from the violets her light foot175 Shone rosy-white, and o'er her rounded form Between the shadows of the vine-bunches Floated the glowing sunlights as she moved.

"Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die. She with a subtle smile in her mild eyes,180 The herald of her triumph, drawing nigh Half-whisper'd in his ear, 'I promise thee The fairest and most loving wife in Greece.' She spoke and laugh'd: I shut my sight for fear: But when I look'd, Paris had raised his arm,185 And I beheld great Herè's angry eyes, As she withdrew into the golden cloud, And I was left alone within the bower; And from that time to this I am alone, And I shall be alone until I die.190

"Yet, mother Ida, hearken ere I die. Fairest—why fairest wife? am I not fair? My love hath told me so a thousand times. Methinks I must be fair, for yesterday, When I past by, a wild and wanton pard,[199]195 Eyed like the evening star, with playful tail Crouch'd fawning in the weed. Most loving is she? Ah me, my mountain shepherd, that my arms Were wound about thee, and my hot lips prest Close, close to thine in that quick-falling dew200 Of fruitful kisses, thick as Autumn rains Flash in the pools of whirling Simois.

"O mother, hear me yet before I die. They came, they cut away my tallest pines, My tall dark pines, that plumed the craggy ledge205 High over the blue gorge, and all between The snowy peak and snow-white cataract Foster'd the callow eaglet—from beneath Whose thick mysterious boughs in the dark morn The panther's roar came muffled, while I sat210 Low in the valley. Never, never more Shall lone Œnone see the morning mist Sweep thro' them; never see them overlaid With narrow moon-lit slips of silver cloud, Between the loud stream and the trembling stars.215

"O mother, hear me yet before I die. I wish that somewhere in the ruin'd folds, Among the fragments tumbled from the glens, Or the dry thickets, I could meet with her The Abominable,[200] that uninvited came220 Into the fair Peleïan banquet-hall, And cast the golden fruit upon the board, And bred this change; that I might speak my mind, And tell her to her face how much I hate Her presence, hated both of Gods and men.225

"O mother, hear me yet before I die. Hath he not sworn his love a thousand times, In this green valley, under this green hill, Ev'n on this hand, and sitting on this stone? Seal'd it with kisses? water'd it with tears?230 O happy tears, and how unlike to these! O happy Heaven, how canst thou see my face? O happy earth, how canst thou bear my weight? O death, death, death, thou ever-floating cloud, There are enough unhappy on this earth;235 Pass by the happy souls, that love to live; I pray thee, pass before my light of life, And shadow all my soul, that I may die. Thou weighest heavy on the heart within, Weigh heavy on my eyelids: let me die.240

"O mother, hear me yet before I die. I will not die alone, for fiery thoughts Do shape themselves within me, more and more, Whereof I catch the issue, as I hear Dead sounds at night come from the inmost hills,245 Like footsteps upon wool. I dimly see My far-off doubtful purpose, as a mother Conjectures of the features of her child Ere it is born: her child!—a shudder comes Across me: never child be born of me,250 Unblest, to vex me with his father's eyes!

"O mother, hear me yet before I die. Hear me, O earth. I will not die alone, Lest their shrill happy laughter come to me Walking the cold and starless road of death255 Uncomforted, leaving my ancient love With the Greek woman.[201] I will rise and go Down into Troy, and ere the stars come forth Talk with the wild Cassandra,[202] for she says A fire dances before her, and a sound260 Rings ever in her ears of armed men. What this may be I know not, but I know That, wheresoe'er I am by night and day, All earth and air seem only burning fire."

[ENOCH ARDEN]

Long lines of cliff breaking have left a chasm; And in the chasm are foam and yellow sands; Beyond, red roofs about a narrow wharf In cluster; then a moulder'd church; and higher A long street climbs to one tall-tower'd mill;5 And high in heaven behind it a gray down With Danish barrows[203]; and a hazelwood, By autumn nutters haunted, flourishes Green in a cuplike hollow of the down.

Here on this beach a hundred years ago,10 Three children, of three houses, Annie Lee, The prettiest little damsel in the port, And Philip Ray, the miller's only son, And Enoch Arden, a rough sailor's lad Made orphan by a winter shipwreck, play'd15 Among the waste and lumber of the shore, Hard coils of cordage, swarthy fishing-nets, Anchors of rusty fluke,[204] and boats updrawn; And built their castles of dissolving sand To watch them overflow'd, or following up20 And flying the white breaker, daily left The little footprint daily wash'd away.

A narrow cave ran in beneath the cliff; In this the children play'd at keeping house. Enoch was host one day, Philip the next,25 While Annie still was mistress; but at times Enoch would hold possession for a week: "This is my house and this my little wife." "Mine too," said Philip, "turn and turn about:" When, if they quarrell'd, Enoch stronger made30 Was master: then would Philip, his blue eyes All flooded with the helpless wrath of tears, Shriek out, "I hate you, Enoch," and at this The little wife would weep for company, And pray them not to quarrel for her sake,35 And say she would be little wife to both.[205]

But when the dawn of rosy childhood past, And the new warmth of life's ascending sun Was felt by either, either fixt his heart On that one girl; and Enoch spoke his love,40 But Philip loved in silence; and the girl Seem'd kinder unto Philip than to him; But she loved Enoch: tho' she knew it not, And would if ask'd deny it. Enoch set A purpose evermore before his eyes,45 To hoard all savings to the uttermost, To purchase his own boat, and make a home For Annie: and so prosper'd that at last A luckier or a bolder fisherman, A carefuller in peril, did not breathe50 For leagues along that breaker-beaten coast Than Enoch. Likewise had he served a year On board a merchantman, and made himself Full sailor; and he thrice had pluck'd a life From the dread sweep of the down-streaming seas:55 And all men look'd upon him favorably: And ere he touch'd his one-and-twentieth May He purchased his own boat, and made a home For Annie, neat and nestlike, halfway up The narrow street that clamber'd toward the mill.60

Then, on a golden autumn eventide, The younger people making holiday, With bag and sack and basket, great and small, Went nutting to the hazels. Philip stay'd (His father lying sick and needing him)65 An hour behind; but as he climb'd the hill, Just where the prone edge of the wood began To feather toward the hollow, saw the pair, Enoch and Annie, sitting hand-in-hand, His large gray eyes and weather-beaten face70 All-kindled by a still and sacred fire, That burn'd as on an altar. Philip look'd, And in their eyes and faces read his doom; Then, as their faces drew together, groan'd, And slipt aside, and like a wounded life75 Crept down into the hollows of the wood; There, while the rest were loud in merrymaking, Had his dark hour unseen, and rose and past Bearing a lifelong hunger in his heart.

So these were wed, and merrily rang the bells,80 And merrily ran the years, seven happy years, Seven happy years of health and competence, And mutual love and honorable toil; With children; first a daughter. In him woke, With his first babe's first cry, the noble wish85 To save all earnings to the uttermost, And give his child a better bringing-up Than his had been, or hers; a wish renew'd, When two years after came a boy to be The rosy idol of her solitudes,90 While Enoch was abroad on wrathful seas, Or often journeying landward; for in truth Enoch's white horse, and Enoch's ocean-spoil In ocean-smelling osier,[206] and his face, Rough-redden'd with a thousand winter gales,95 Not only to the market-cross were known, But in the leafy lanes behind the down, Far as the portal-warding lion-whelp[207] And peacock-yewtree[208] of the lonely Hall, Whose Friday fare was Enoch's ministering.100

Then came a change, as all things human change. Ten miles to northward of the narrow port Open'd a larger haven: thither used Enoch at times to go by land or sea; And once when there, and clambering on a mast105 In harbor, by mischance he slipt and fell: A limb was broken when they lifted him; And while he lay recovering there, his wife Bore him another son, a sickly one: Another hand crept too across his trade110 Taking her bread and theirs: and on him fell, Altho' a grave and staid God-fearing man, Yet lying thus inactive, doubt and gloom. He seem'd, as in a nightmare of the night, To see his children leading evermore115 Low miserable lives of hand-to-mouth, And her he loved, a beggar: then he pray'd "Save them from this, whatever comes to me." And while he pray'd, the master of that ship Enoch had served in, hearing his mischance,120 Came, for he knew the man and valued him, Reporting of his vessel China-bound, And wanting yet a boatswain. Would he go? There yet were many weeks before she sail'd, Sail'd from this port. Would Enoch have the place?125 And Enoch all at once assented to it, Rejoicing at that answer to his prayer.

So now that shadow of mischance appear'd No graver than as when some little cloud Cuts off the fiery highway of the sun,130 And isles a light in the offing: yet the wife— When he was gone—the children—what to do? Then Enoch lay long-pondering on his plans; To sell the boat—and yet he loved her well— How many a rough sea had he weather'd in her!135 He knew her, as a horseman knows his horse— And yet to sell her—then with what she brought Buy goods and stores—set Annie forth in trade With all that seamen needed or their wives— So might she keep the house while he was gone.140 Should he not trade himself out yonder? go This voyage more than once? yea, twice or thrice— As oft as needed—last, returning rich, Become the master of a larger craft, With fuller profits lead an easier life,145 Have all his pretty young ones educated, And pass his days in peace among his own.

Thus Enoch in his heart determined all: Then moving homeward came on Annie pale, Nursing the sickly babe, her latest-born.150 Forward she started with a happy cry, And laid the feeble infant in his arms; Whom Enoch took, and handled all his limbs, Appraised his weight and fondled father-like, But had no heart to break his purposes155 To Annie, till the morrow, when he spoke.

Then first since Enoch's golden ring had girt Her finger, Annie fought against his will: Yet not with brawling opposition she, But manifold entreaties, many a tear,160 Many a sad kiss by day by night renew'd (Sure that all evil would come out of it) Besought him, supplicating, if he cared For her or his dear children, not to go. He not for his own self caring but her,165 Her and her children, let her plead in vain; So grieving held his will, and bore it thro'.

For Enoch parted with his old sea-friend, Bought Annie goods and stores, and set his hand To fit their little streetward sitting-room170 With shelf and corner for the goods and stores. So all day long till Enoch's last at home, Shaking their pretty cabin, hammer and axe, Auger and saw, while Annie seem'd to hear Her own death-scaffold raising, shrill'd and rang,175 Till this was ended, and his careful hand,— The space was narrow,—having order'd all Almost as neat and close as Nature packs Her blossom or her seedling, paused; and he, Who needs would work for Annie to the last,180 Ascending tired, heavily slept till morn.

And Enoch faced this morning of farewell Brightly and boldly. All his Annie's fears, Save as his Annie's, were a laughter to him. Yet Enoch as a brave God-fearing man185 Bow'd himself down, and in that mystery Where God-in-man is one with man-in-God, Pray'd for a blessing on his wife and babes, Whatever came to him: and then he said "Annie, this voyage by the grace of God190 Will bring fair weather yet to all of us. Keep a clean hearth and a clear fire for me, For I'll be back, my girl, before you know it." Then lightly rocking baby's cradle, "and he, This pretty, puny, weakly little one,—195 Nay—for I love him all the better for it— God bless him, he shall sit upon my knees And I will tell him tales of foreign parts, And make him merry, when I come home again. Come, Annie, come, cheer up before I go."200

Him running on thus hopefully she heard, And almost hoped herself; but when he turn'd The current of his talk to graver things, In sailor fashion roughly sermonizing On providence and trust in Heaven, she heard,205 Heard and not heard him; as the village girl, Who sets her pitcher underneath the spring, Musing on him that used to fill it for her, Hears and not hears, and lets it overflow.

At length she spoke, "O Enoch, you are wise;210 And yet for all your wisdom well know I That I shall look upon your face no more."

"Well then," said Enoch, "I shall look on yours.[209] Annie, the ship I sail in passes here (He named the day), get you a seaman's glass,215 Spy out my face, and laugh at all your fears."

But when the last of those last moments came, "Annie, my girl, cheer up, be comforted, Look to the babes, and till I come again, Keep everything shipshape, for I must go.220 And fear no more for me; or if you fear Cast all your cares on God; that anchor holds. Is He not yonder in those uttermost Parts of the morning? if I flee to these Can I go from him? and the sea is His,225 The sea is His: He made it."

Enoch rose, Cast his strong arms about his drooping wife, And kiss'd his wonder-stricken little ones; But for the third, the sickly one, who slept After a night of feverous wakefulness,230 When Annie would have raised him Enoch said, "Wake him not; let him sleep; how should the child Remember this?" and kiss'd him in his cot. But Annie from her baby's forehead clipt A tiny curl, and gave it: this he kept235 Thro' all his future; but now hastily caught His bundle, waved his hand, and went his way.

She, when the day, that Enoch mention'd, came, Borrow'd a glass, but all in vain: perhaps She could not fix the glass to suit her eye;240 Perhaps her eye was dim, hand tremulous; She saw him not: and while he stood on deck Waving, the moment and the vessel past.

Ev'n to the last dip of the vanishing sail She watch'd it, and departed weeping for him;245 Then, tho' she mourn'd his absence as his grave, Set her sad will no less to chime with his, But throve not in her trade, not being bred To barter, nor compensating the want By shrewdness, neither capable of lies,250 Nor asking overmuch and taking less, And still foreboding "what would Enoch say?" For more than once, in days of difficulty And pressure, had she sold her wares for less Than what she gave in buying what she sold:255 She fail'd and sadden'd knowing it; and thus, Expectant of that news which never came, Gain'd for her own a scanty sustenance, And lived a life of silent melancholy.

Now the third child was sickly-born and grew260 Yet sicklier, tho' the mother cared for it With all a mother's care: nevertheless, Whether her business often call'd her from it, Or thro' the want of what it needed most, Or means to pay the voice who best could tell265 What most it needed—howsoe'er it was, After a lingering,—ere she was aware,— Like the caged bird escaping suddenly, The little innocent soul flitted away.

In that same week when Annie buried it,270 Philip's true heart, which hunger'd for her peace (Since Enoch left he had not look'd upon her), Smote him, as having kept aloof so long. "Surely," said Philip, "I may see her now, May be some little comfort;" therefore went,275 Past thro' the solitary room in front, Paused for a moment at an inner door, Then struck it thrice, and, no one opening, Enter'd; but Annie, seated with her grief, Fresh from the burial of her little one,280 Cared not to look on any human face, But turn'd her own toward the wall and wept. Then Philip standing up said falteringly, "Annie, I came to ask a favor of you."

He spoke; the passion in her moan'd reply,285 "Favor from one so sad and so forlorn As I am!" half abash'd him; yet unask'd, His bashfulness and tenderness at war, He set himself beside her, saying to her:

"I came to speak to you of what he wish'd,290 Enoch, your husband: I have ever said You chose the best among us—a strong man: For where he fixt his heart he set his hand To do the thing he will'd, and bore it thro'. And wherefore did he go this weary way,295 And leave you lonely? not to see the world— For pleasure?—nay, but for the wherewithal To give his babes a better bringing-up Than his had been, or yours: that was his wish. And if he come again, vext will he be300 To find the precious morning hours were lost. And it would vex him even in his grave, If he could know his babes were running wild Like colts about the waste. So, Annie, now— Have we not known each other all our lives?—305 I do beseech you by the love you bear Him and his children not to say me nay— For, if you will, when Enoch comes again, Why then he shall repay me—if you will, Annie—for I am rich and well-to-do.310 Now let me put the boy and girl to school: This is the favor that I came to ask."

Then Annie with her brows against the wall Answer'd, "I cannot look you in the face; I seem so foolish and so broken down.315 When you came in my sorrow broke me down; And now I think your kindness breaks me down; But Enoch lives; that is borne in on me; He will repay you: money can be repaid; Not kindness such as yours." And Philip ask'd320 "Then you will let me, Annie?" There she turn'd, She rose, and fixt her swimming eyes upon him, And dwelt a moment on his kindly face, Then calling down a blessing on his head Caught at his hand, and wrung it passionately,325 And past into the little garth[210] beyond. So lifted up in spirit he moved away.

Then Philip put the boy and girl to school, And bought them needful books, and every way, Like one who does his duty by his own,330 Made himself theirs; and tho' for Annie's sake, Fearing the lazy gossip of the port, He oft denied his heart his dearest wish, And seldom crost her threshold, yet he sent Gifts by the children, garden-herbs and fruit,335 The late and early roses from his wall, Or conies[211] from the down, and now and then, With some pretext of fineness in the meal To save the offence of charitable, flour From his tall mill that whistled on the waste.340

But Philip did not fathom Annie's mind: Scarce could the woman when he came upon her, Out of full heart and boundless gratitude Light on a broken word to thank him with. But Philip was her children's all-in-all;345 From distant corners of the street they ran To greet his hearty welcome heartily; Lords of his house and of his mill were they; Worried his passive ear with petty wrongs Or pleasures, hung upon him, play'd with him,350 And call'd him Father Philip. Philip gain'd As Enoch lost; for Enoch seem'd to them Uncertain as a vision or a dream, Faint as a figure seen in early dawn Down at the far end of an avenue,355 Going we know not where: and so ten years, Since Enoch left his hearth and native land, Fled forward, and no news of Enoch came.

It chanced one evening Annie's children long'd To go with others nutting to the wood,360 And Annie would go with them; then they begg'd For Father Philip (as they call'd him) too: Him, like the working bee in blossom-dust, Blanch'd with his mill, they found; and saying to him, "Come with us, Father Philip," he denied;365 But when the children pluck'd at him to go, He laugh'd, and yielded readily to their wish, For was not Annie with them? and they went.

But after scaling half the weary down, Just where the prone edge of the wood began[212]370 To feather toward the hollow, all her force Fail'd her; and sighing, "Let me rest," she said: So Philip rested with her well-content; While all the younger ones with jubilant cries Broke from their elders, and tumultuously375 Down thro' the whitening hazels made a plunge To the bottom, and dispersed, and bent or broke The lithe reluctant boughs to tear away Their tawny clusters, crying to each other And calling, here and there, about the wood.380

But Philip sitting at her side forgot Her presence, and remember'd one dark hour Here in this wood, when like a wounded life He crept into the shadow: at last he said, Lifting his honest forehead, "Listen, Annie,385 How merry they are down yonder in the wood. Tired, Annie?" for she did not speak a word. "Tired?" but her face had fall'n upon her hands; At which, as with a kind of anger in him, "The ship was lost," he said, "the ship was lost!390 No more of that! why should you kill yourself And make them orphans quite?" And Annie said "I thought not of it: but—I know not why— Their voices make me feel so solitary."

Then Philip coming somewhat closer spoke.395 "Annie, there is a thing upon my mind, And it has been upon my mind so long, That tho' I know not when it first came there, I know that it will out at last. Oh, Annie, It is beyond all hope, against all chance,400 That he who left you ten long years ago Should still be living; well then—let me speak: I grieve to see you poor and wanting help: I cannot help you as I wish to do Unless—they say that women are so quick—405 Perhaps you know what I would have you know— I wish you for my wife. I fain would prove A father to your children: I do think They love me as a father: I am sure That I love them as if they were mine own;410 And I believe, if you were fast my wife, That after all these sad uncertain years, We might be still as happy as God grants To any of His creatures. Think upon it: For I am well-to-do—no kin, no care,415 No burthen, save my care for you and yours: And we have known each other all our lives, And I have loved you longer than you know."

Then answer'd Annie; tenderly she spoke: "You have been as God's good angel in our house.420 God bless you for it, God reward you for it, Philip, with something happier than myself. Can one love twice? can you be ever loved As Enoch was? what is it that you ask?" "I am content," he answer'd, "to be loved425 A little after Enoch." "Oh," she cried, Scared as it were, "dear Philip, wait a while: If Enoch comes—but Enoch will not come— Yet wait a year, a year is not so long: Surely I shall be wiser in a year:430 Oh, wait a little!" Philip sadly said, "Annie, as I have waited all my life I well may wait a little." "Nay," she cried, "I am bound: you have my promise—in a year; Will you not bide your year as I bide mine?"435 And Philip answer'd, "I will bide my year."

Here both were mute, till Philip glancing up Beheld the dead flame of the fallen day Pass from the Danish barrow overhead; Then, fearing night and chill for Annie, rose,440 And sent his voice beneath him thro' the wood. Up came the children laden with their spoil; Then all descended to the port, and there At Annie's door he paused and gave his hand, Saying gently, "Annie, when I spoke to you,445 That was your hour of weakness. I was wrong. I am always bound to you, but you are free." Then Annie weeping answered, "I am bound."

She spoke; and in one moment as it were, While yet she went about her household ways,450 Ev'n as she dwelt upon his latest words, That he had loved her longer than she knew, That autumn into autumn flash'd again, And there he stood once more before her face, Claiming her promise. "Is it a year?" she ask'd.455 "Yes, if the nuts," he said, "be ripe again: Come out and see." But she—she put him off— So much to look to—such a change—a month— Give her a month—she knew that she was bound— A month—no more. Then Philip with his eyes460 Full of that lifelong hunger, and his voice Shaking a little like a drunkard's hand, "Take your own time, Annie, take your own time." And Annie could have wept for pity of him; And yet she held him on delayingly465 With many a scarce-believable excuse, Trying his truth and his long-sufferance, Till half another year had slipped away.

By this the lazy gossips of the port, Abhorrent of a calculation crost,470 Began to chafe as at a personal wrong. Some thought that Philip did but trifle with her; Some that she but held off to draw him on; And others laughed at her and Philip too, As simple folk that knew not their own minds;475 And one in whom all evil fancies clung Like serpent's eggs together, laughingly Would hint at worse in either. Her own son Was silent, tho' he often look'd his wish; But evermore the daughter prest upon her480 To wed the man so dear to all of them And lift the household out of poverty; And Philip's rosy face contracting grew Careworn and wan; and all these things fell on him Sharp as reproach. At last one night it chanced485 That Annie could not sleep, but earnestly Pray'd for a sign, "my Enoch, is he gone?" Then compass'd round by the blind wall of night Brook'd not the expectant terror of her heart, Started from bed, and struck herself a light,490 Then desperately seized the holy Book, Suddenly set it wide to find a sign, Suddenly put her finger on the text, "Under the palm-tree.[213]" That was nothing to her: No meaning there: she closed the Book and slept:495 When lo! her Enoch sitting on a height, Under a palm-tree, over him the Sun: "He is gone," she thought, "he is happy, he is singing Hosanna in the highest: yonder shines The Sun of Righteousness, and these be palms500 Whereof the happy people strowing cried 'Hosanna in the highest!'" Here she woke, Resolved, sent for him and said wildly to him, "There is no reason why we should not wed." "Then for God's sake," he answer'd, "both our sakes,505 So you will wed me, let it be at once."

So these were wed and merrily rang the bells, Merrily rang the bells and they were wed. But never merrily beat Annie's heart. A footstep seem'd to fall beside her path,510 She knew not whence; a whisper on her ear, She knew not what; nor loved she to be left Alone at home, nor ventured out alone. What ail'd her then, that ere she enter'd, often, Her hand dwelt lingeringly on the latch,515 Fearing to enter: Philip thought he knew: Such doubts and fears were common to her state, Being with child: but when her child was born, Then her new child was as herself renew'd, Then the new mother came about her heart,520 Then her good Philip was her all-in-all, And that mysterious instinct wholly died.

And where was Enoch? prosperously sail'd The ship Good Fortune, tho' at setting forth The Biscay,[214] roughly ridging eastward, shook525 And almost overwhelm'd her, yet unvext She slipt across the summer of the world,[215] Then after a long tumble about the Cape And frequent interchange of foul and fair, She passing thro' the summer world again,530 The breath of heaven came continually And sent her sweetly by the golden isles, Till silent in her oriental haven.

There Enoch traded for himself, and bought Quaint monsters for the market of those times,535 A gilded dragon, also, for the babes.

Less lucky her home-voyage: at first indeed Thro' many a fair sea-circle, day by day, Scarce-rocking her full-busted figure-head Stared o'er the ripple feathering from her bows:540 Then follow'd calms, and then winds variable, Then baffling, a long course of them; and last Storm, such as drove her under moonless heavens Till hard upon the cry of "breakers" came The crash of ruin, and the loss of all545 But Enoch and two others. Half the night, Buoy'd upon floating tackle and broken spars, These drifted, stranding on an isle at morn Rich, but the loneliest in a lonely sea.

No want was there of human sustenance,550 Soft fruitage, mighty nuts, and nourishing roots; Nor save for pity was it hard to take The helpless life so wild that it was tame. There in a seaward-gazing mountain-gorge They built, and thatch'd with leaves of palm, a hut,555 Half hut, half native cavern. So the three, Set in this Eden of all plenteousness, Dwelt with eternal summer, ill-content.

For one, the youngest, hardly more than boy, Hurt in that night of sudden ruin and wreck,560 Lay lingering out a five-years' death-in-life. They could not leave him. After he was gone, The two remaining found a fallen stem[216]; And Enoch's comrade, careless of himself, Fire-hollowing this in Indian fashion, fell565 Sun-stricken, and that other lived alone. In those two deaths he read God's warning, "Wait."

The mountain wooded to the peak, the lawns And winding glades high up like ways to Heaven, The slender coco's drooping crown of plumes,570 The lightning flash of insect and of bird, The lustre of the long convolvuluses[217] That coil'd around the stately stems, and ran Ev'n to the limit of the land, the glows And glories of the broad belt of the world,[218]575 All these he saw; but what he fain had seen He could not see, the kindly human face, Nor ever hear a kindly voice, but heard The myriad shriek of wheeling ocean-fowl, The league-long roller thundering on the reef,580 The moving whisper of huge trees that branch'd And blossom'd in the zenith, or the sweep Of some precipitous rivulet to the wave, As down the shore he ranged, or all day long Sat often in the seaward-gazing gorge,585 A shipwreck'd sailor, waiting for a sail: No sail from day to day, but every day The sunrise broken into scarlet shafts Among the palms and ferns and precipices;590 The blaze upon the waters to the east: The blaze upon his island overhead; The blaze upon the waters to the west; Then the great stars that globed themselves in Heaven, The hollower-bellowing ocean, and again The scarlet shafts of sunrise—but no sail.595

There often as he watch'd or seem'd to watch, So still, the golden lizard on him paused, A phantom made of many phantoms moved Before him, haunting him, or he himself Moved haunting people, things and places, known600 Far in a darker isle beyond the line; The babes, their babble, Annie, the small house, The climbing street, the mill, the leafy lanes, The peacock-yewtree and the lonely Hall, The horse he drove, the boat he sold, the chill605 November dawns and dewy-glooming downs, The gentle shower, the smell of dying leaves, And the low moan of leaden-color'd seas.

Once likewise, in the ringing of his ears, Tho' faintly, merrily—far and far away—610 He heard the pealing of his parish bells; Then, tho' he knew not wherefore, started up Shuddering, and when the beauteous hateful isle Return'd upon him, had not his poor heart Spoken with That, which being everywhere615 Lets none who speaks with Him seem all alone, Surely the man had died of solitude.

Thus over Enoch's early-silvering head The sunny and rainy seasons came and went Year after year. His hopes to see his own,620 And pace the sacred old familiar fields, Not yet had perish'd, when his lonely doom Came suddenly to an end. Another ship (She wanted water) blown by baffling winds, Like the Good Fortune, from her destined course,625 Stay'd by this isle, not knowing where she lay: For since the mate had seen at early dawn Across a break on the mist-wreathen isle The silent water slipping from the hills, They sent a crew that landing burst away630 In search of stream or fount, and fill'd the shores With clamor. Downward from his mountain gorge[219] Stept the long-hair'd, long-bearded solitary, Brown, looking hardly human, strangely clad, Muttering and mumbling, idiot-like it seem'd,635 With inarticulate rage, and making signs They knew not what: and yet he led the way To where the rivulets of sweet water ran; And ever as he mingled with the crew, And heard them talking, his long-bounden tongue640 Was loosen'd, till he made them understand; Whom, when their casks were fill'd they took aboard And there the tale he utter'd brokenly, Scarce-credited at first but more and more, Amazed and melted all who listen'd to it;645 And clothes they gave him and free passage home; But oft he work'd among the rest and shook His isolation from him. None of these Came from his county, or could answer him, If question'd, aught of what he cared to know.650 And dull the voyage was with long delays, The vessel scarce sea-worthy; but evermore His fancy fled before the lazy wind Returning, till beneath a clouded moon He like a lover down thro' all his blood655 Drew in the dewy meadowy morning-breath Of England, blown across her ghostly wall: And that same morning officers and men Levied a kindly tax upon themselves, Pitying the lonely man, and gave him it:660 Then moving up the coast they landed him, Ev'n in that harbor whence he sail'd before.

There Enoch spoke no word to any one, But homeward—home—what home? had he a home? His home, he walk'd. Bright was that afternoon,665 Sunny but chill; till drawn thro' either chasm, Where either haven open'd on the deeps, Roll'd a sea-haze and whelm'd the world in gray; Cut off the length of highway on before, And left but narrow breadth to left and right670 Of wither'd holt[220] or tilth[221] or pasturage. On the nigh-naked tree the robin piped Disconsolate, and thro' the dripping haze The dead weight of the dead leaf bore it down: Thicker the drizzle grew, deeper the gloom;675 Last, as it seem'd, a great mist-blotted light Flared on him, and he came upon the place.

Then down the long street having slowly stolen, His heart foreshadowing all calamity, His eyes upon the stones, he reach'd the home680 Where Annie lived and loved him, and his babes In those far-off seven happy years were born; But finding neither light nor murmur there (A bill of sale gleam'd thro' the drizzle) crept Still downward thinking, "dead, or dead to me!"685

Down to the pool and narrow wharf he went, Seeking a tavern which of old he knew, A front of timber-crost antiquity, So propt, worm-eaten, ruinously old, He thought it must have gone; but he was gone690 Who kept it; and his widow, Miriam Lane, With daily-dwindling profits held the house; A haunt of brawling seamen once, but now Stiller, with yet a bed for wandering men. There Enoch rested silent many days.695

But Miriam Lane was good and garrulous, Nor let him be, but often breaking in, Told him, with other annals of the port, Not knowing—Enoch was so brown, so bow'd, So broken—all the story of his house.700 His baby's death, her growing poverty, How Philip put her little ones to school, And kept them in it, his long wooing her, Her slow consent, and marriage, and the birth Of Philip's child: and o'er his countenance705 No shadow past, nor motion: any one, Regarding, well had deem'd he felt the tale Less than the teller; only when she closed, "Enoch, poor man, was cast away and lost," He, shaking his gray head pathetically,710 Repeated muttering, "cast away and lost;" Again in deeper inward whispers, "lost!"

But Enoch yearned to see her face again; "If I might look on her sweet face again And know that she is happy." So the thought715 Haunted and harass'd him, and drove him forth, At evening when the dull November day Was growing duller twilight, to the hill. There he sat down gazing on all below; There did a thousand memories roll upon him,720 Unspeakable for sadness. By and by The ruddy square of comfortable light, Far-blazing from the rear of Philip's house, Allured him, as the beacon-blaze allures The bird of passage, till he madly strikes725 Against it, and beats out his weary life.

For Philip's dwelling fronted on the street, The latest[222] house to landward; but behind, With one small gate that open'd on the waste, Flourish'd a little garden square and wall'd:730 And in it throve an ancient evergreen, A yewtree, and all round it ran a walk Of shingle,[223] and a walk divided it: But Enoch shunn'd the middle walk and stole Up by the wall, behind the yew; and thence735 That which he better might have shunn'd, if griefs Like his have worse or better, Enoch saw.

For cups and silver on the burnish'd board Sparkled and shone; so genial was the hearth: And on the right hand of the hearth he saw740 Philip, the slighted suitor of old times, Stout, rosy, with his babe across his knees; And o'er her second father stoopt a girl, A later but a loftier Annie Lee, Fair-hair'd and tall, and from her lifted hand,745 Dangled a length of ribbon and a ring To tempt the babe, who rear'd his creasy[224] arms, Caught at, and ever miss'd it, and they laugh'd: And on the left hand of the hearth he saw The mother glancing often toward her babe,750 But turning now and then to speak with him, Her son, who stood beside her tall and strong, And saying that which pleased him, for he smiled.

Now when the dead man come to life beheld His wife his wife no more, and saw the babe755 Hers, yet not his, upon the father's knee, And all the warmth, the peace, the happiness, And his own children tall and beautiful, And him, that other, reigning in his place, Lord of his rights and of his children's love,—760 Then he, tho' Miriam Lane had told him all, Because things seen are mightier than things heard, Stagger'd and shook, holding the branch, and fear'd To send abroad a shrill and terrible cry, Which in one moment, like the blast of doom,765 Would shatter all the happiness of the hearth.

He therefore turning softly like a thief, Lest the harsh shingle should grate underfoot, And feeling all along the garden wall, Lest he should swoon and tumble and be found,770 Crept to the gate, and open'd it, and closed, As lightly as a sick man's chamber-door, Behind him, and came out upon the waste.

And there he would have knelt, but that his knees Were feeble, so that falling prone he dug775 His fingers into the wet earth, and pray'd.

"Too hard to bear! why did they take me thence? O God Almighty, blessed Saviour, Thou That didst uphold me on my lonely isle, Uphold me, Father, in my loneliness780 A little longer! aid me, give me strength Not to tell her, never to let her know. Help me not to break in upon her peace. My children too! must I not speak to these? They know me not. I should betray myself.785 Never: no father's kiss for me—the girl So like her mother, and the boy, my son."

There speech and thought and nature fail'd a little And he lay tranced; but when he rose and paced Back toward his solitary home again,790 All down the long and narrow street he went Beating it in upon his weary brain, As tho' it were the burthen of a song, "Not to tell her, never to let her know."

He was not all unhappy. His resolve795 Upbore him, and firm faith, and evermore Prayer from a living source within the will, And beating up thro' all the bitter world, Like fountains of sweet water in the sea, Kept him a living soul. "This miller's wife,"800 He said to Miriam, "that you spoke about, Has she no fear that her first husband lives?" "Ay, ay, poor soul," said Miriam, "fear enow! If you could tell her you had seen him dead, Why, that would be her comfort;" and he thought805 "After the Lord has call'd me she shall know, I wait His time;" and Enoch set himself, Scorning an alms, to work whereby to live. Almost to all things could he turn his hand. Cooper he was and carpenter, and wrought810 To make the boatmen fishing-nets, or help'd At lading and unlading the tall barks, That brought the stinted commerce of those days; Thus earn'd a scanty living for himself: Yet since he did but labor for himself,815 Work without hope, there was not life in it Whereby the man could live; and as the year Roll'd itself round again to meet the day When Enoch had return'd, a languor came Upon him, gentle sickness, gradually820 Weakening the man, till he could do no more, But kept the house, his chair, and last his bed. And Enoch bore his weakness cheerfully. For sure no gladlier does the stranded wreck See thro' the gray skirts of a lifting squall825 The boat that bears the hope of life approach To save the life despair'd of, than he saw Death dawning on him, and the close of all.

For thro' that dawning gleam'd a kindlier hope On Enoch thinking, "after I am gone,830 Then may she learn I lov'd her to the last." He call'd aloud for Miriam Lane and said, "Woman, I have a secret—only swear, Before I tell you—swear upon the book Not to reveal it, till you see me dead."835 "Dead," clamor'd the good woman, "hear him talk; I warrant, man, that we shall bring you round." "Swear," added Enoch sternly, "on the book." And on the book, half-frighted, Miriam swore. Then Enoch rolling his gray eyes upon her,840 "Did you know Enoch Arden of this town?" "Know him?" she said, "I knew him far away. Ay, ay, I mind him coming down the street; Held his head high, and cared for no man, he." Slowly and sadly Enoch answer'd her:845 "His head is low, and no man cares for him. I think I have not three days more to live; I am the man." At which the woman gave A half-incredulous, half-hysterical cry. "You Arden, you! nay,—sure he was a foot850 Higher than you be." Enoch said again, "My God has bow'd me down to what I am; My grief and solitude have broken me; Nevertheless, know you that I am he Who married—but that name has twice been changed—855 I married her who married Philip Ray. Sit, listen." Then he told her of his voyage, His wreck, his lonely life, his coming back, His gazing in on Annie, his resolve, And how he kept it. As the woman heard,860 Fast flow'd the current of her easy tears, While in her heart she yearn'd incessantly To rush abroad all round the little haven, Proclaiming Enoch Arden and his woes; But awed and promise-bounden she forbore,865 Saying only, "See your bairns before you go! Eh, let me fetch 'em, Arden," and arose Eager to bring them down, for Enoch hung A moment on her words, but then replied:

"Woman, disturb me not now at the last,870 But let me hold my purpose till I die. Sit down again; mark me and understand, While I have power to speak. I charge you now When you shall see her, tell her that I died Blessing her, praying for her, loving her;875 Save for the bar between us, loving her As when she lay her head beside my own. And tell my daughter Annie, whom I saw So like her mother, that my latest breath Was spent in blessing her and praying for her.880 And tell my son that I died blessing him. And say to Philip that I blest him too; He never meant us any thing but good. But if my children care to see me dead, Who hardly knew me living, let them come,885 I am their father; but she must not come, For my dead face would vex her after-life. And now there is but one of all my blood, Who will embrace me in the world-to-be: This hair is his: she cut it off and gave it,890 And I have borne it with me all these years, And thought to bear it with me to my grave; But now my mind is changed, for I shall see him, My babe in bliss: wherefore when I am gone, Take, give her this, for it may comfort her:895 It will moreover be a token to her, That I am he."

He ceased; and Miriam Lane Made such a voluble answer promising all, That once again he roll'd his eyes upon her Repeating all he wish'd, and once again900 She promised.

Then the third night after this, While Enoch slumber'd motionless and pale, And Miriam watch'd and dozed at intervals, There came so loud a calling of the sea, That all the houses in the haven rang.905 He woke, he rose, he spread his arms abroad, Crying with a loud voice "A sail! a sail! I am saved;" and so fell back and spoke no more.

So past the strong heroic soul away. And when they buried him the little port910 Had seldom seen a costlier funeral.

[THE REVENGE]

A Ballad of the Fleet

I

At Flores in the Azores[225] Sir Richard Grenville lay, And a pinnace like a flutter'd bird, came flying from far away: 'Spanish ships of war at sea! we have sighted fifty-three!' Then sware Lord Thomas Howard[226]: 'Fore God I am no coward; But I cannot meet them here, for my ships are out of gear,5 And the half my men are sick. I must fly, but follow quick. We are six ships of the line; can we fight with fifty-three?'

II

Then spake Sir Richard Grenville: 'I know you are no coward; You fly them for a moment to fight with them again. But I've ninety men and more that are lying sick ashore.10 I should count myself the coward if I left them, my Lord Howard, To these Inquisition[227] dogs and the devildoms of Spain.'

IIII

So Lord Howard passed away with five ships of war that day, Till he melted like a cloud in the silent summer heaven; But Sir Richard bore in hand all his sick men from the land15 Very carefully and slow, Men of Bideford[228] in Devon, And we laid them on the ballast down below; For we brought them all aboard, And they blest him in their pain, that they were not left to Spain,20 To the thumbscrew[229] and the stake[230] for the glory of the Lord.

IV

He had only a hundred seamen to work the ship and to fight And he sailed away from Flores till the Spaniard came in sight, With his huge sea-castles heaving upon the weather bow. 'Shall we fight or shall we fly?25 Good Sir Richard, tell us now, For to fight is but to die! There'll be little of us left by the time this sun be set.' And Sir Richard said again, 'We be all good English men. Let us bang these dogs of Seville,[231] the children of the devil,30 For I never turn'd my back upon Don[232] or devil yet.'

V

Sir Richard spoke and he laugh'd, and we roar'd a hurrah, and so The little Revenge ran on sheer into the heart of the foe, With her hundred fighters on deck, and her ninety sick below; For half of her fleet to the right and half to the left were seen,35 And the little Revenge ran on thro' the long sea-lane between.

VI

Thousands of their soldiers look'd down from their decks and laugh'd, Thousands of their seamen made mock at the mad little craft Running on and on, till delay'd By their mountain-like San Philip that, of fifteen hundred tons,40 And up-shadowing high above us with her yawning tiers of guns, Took the breath from our sails, and we stay'd.

VII

And while now the great San Philip hung above us like a cloud Whence the thunderbolt will fall Long and loud,45 Four galleons[233] drew away From the Spanish fleet that day, And two upon the larboard and two upon the starboard lay, And the battle-thunder broke from them all.

VIII

But anon the great San Philip, she bethought herself and went50 Having that within her womb that had left her ill content; And the rest they came aboard us, and they fought us hand to hand, For a dozen times they came with their pikes and musqueteers, And a dozen times we shook 'em off as a dog that shakes his ears When he leaps from the water to the land.55

IX

And the sun went down, and the stars came out far over the summer sea, But never a moment ceased the fight of the one and the fifty-three. Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high-built galleons came, Ship after ship, the whole night long, with her battle-thunder and flame; Ship after ship, the whole night long, drew back withher dead and her shame.60 For some were sunk and many were shatter'd, and so could fight us no more— God of battles, was ever a battle like this in the world before?

X

For he said, 'Fight on! fight on!' Tho' his vessel was all but a wreck; And it chanced that, when half of the short summer night was gone,65 With a grisly wound to be drest he had left the deck, But a bullet struck him that was dressing it suddenly dead, And himself he was wounded again in the side and the head, And he said 'Fight on! fight on!'

XI

And the night went down, and the sun smiled out far over the summer sea,70 And the Spanish fleet with broken sides lay round us all in a ring; But they dared not touch us again, for they fear'd that we still could sting, So they watch'd what the end would be. And we had not fought them in vain, But in perilous plight were we,75 Seeing forty of our poor hundred were slain, And half of the rest of us maim'd for life In the crash of the cannonades and the desperate strife; And the sick men down in the hold were most of them stark and cold, And the pikes were all broken or bent, and the powder was all of it spent;80 And the masts and the rigging were lying over the side; But Sir Richard cried in his English pride, 'We have fought such a fight for a day and a night As may never be fought again! We have won great glory, my men!85 And a day less or more At sea or ashore, We die—does it matter when? Sink me the ship, Master Gunner—sink her, split her in twain! Fall into the hands of God, not into the hands of Spain!'90

XII

And the gunner said 'Ay, ay,' but the seamen made reply: 'We have children, we have wives, And the Lord hath spared our lives. We will make the Spaniard promise, if we yield, to let us go; We shall live to fight again and to strike another blow.'95 And the lion there lay dying, and they yielded to the foe.

XIII

And the stately Spanish men to their flagship bore him then Where they laid him by the mast, old Sir Richard caught at last, And they praised him to his face with their courtly foreign grace; But he rose upon their decks, and he cried:100 'I have fought for Queen and Faith like a gallant man and true; I have only done my duty as a man is bound to do: With a joyful spirit I Sir Richard Grenville die!' And he fell upon their decks, and he died.

XIV

And they stared at the dead that had been so valiant and true,105 And had holden the power and glory of Spain so cheap That he dared her with one little ship and his English few; Was he devil or man? He was devil for aught they knew, But they sank his body with honour down in the deep, And they mann'd the Revenge with a swarthy alien crew,110 And away she sail'd with her loss and long'd for her own; When a wind from the lands they had ruin'd awoke from sleep, And the water began to heave and the weather to moan, And or ever that evening ended a great gale blew, And a wave like the wave that is raised by an earthquake grew,115 Till it smote on their hulls and their sails and their masts and their flags, And the whole sea plunged and fell on the shot-shatter'd navy of Spain, And the little Revenge herself went down by the island crags To be lost evermore in the main.

[ROBERT BROWNING]

"HOW THEY BROUGHT THE GOOD NEWS
FROM GHENT TO AIX."

[16 − −]

I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he; I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three; "Good speed!" cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew; "Speed!" echoed the wall to us galloping through; Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest,5 And into the midnight we galloped abreast.

Not a word to each other; we kept the great pace Neck by neck, stride by stride, never changing our place; I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight, Then shortened each stirrup, and set the pique[234] right,10 Rebuckled the cheek-strap, chained slacker the bit, Nor galloped less steadily Roland a whit.

'Twas moonset at starting; but while we drew near Lokeren,[235] the cocks crew and twilight dawned clear; At Boom,[236] a great yellow star came out to see;15 At Düffeld,[237] 'twas morning as plain as could be; And from Mecheln[238] church-steeple we heard the half-chime, So Joris broke silence with, "Yet there is time!"

At Aershot,[239] up leaped of a sudden the sun, And against him the cattle stood black every one,20 To stare through the mist at us galloping past, And I saw my stout galloper Roland at last, With resolute shoulders, each butting away The haze, as some bluff river headland its spray:

And his low head and crest, just one sharp ear bent back25 For my voice, and the other pricked out on his track; And one eye's black intelligence,—ever that glance O'er its white edge at me, his own master, askance! And the thick heavy spume-flakes which aye and anon His fierce lips shook upwards in galloping on.30

By Hasselt,[240] Dirck groaned; and cried Joris, "Stay spur! Your Roos galloped bravely, the fault's not in her, We'll remember at Aix"—for one heard the quick wheeze Of her chest, saw the stretched neck and staggering knees, And sunk tail, and horrible heave of the flank,35 As down on her haunches she shuddered and sank.

So, we were left galloping, Joris and I, Past Looz[241] and past Tongres,[242] no cloud in the sky; The broad sun above laughed a pitiless laugh, 'Neath our feet broke the brittle bright stubble like chaff;40 Till over by Dalhem[243] a dome-spire sprang white, And "Gallop," gasped Joris, "for Aix is in sight!"

"How they'll greet us!"—and all in a moment his roan Rolled neck and croup over, lay dead as a stone; And there was my Roland to bear the whole weight45 Of the news which alone could save Aix from her fate,[244] With his nostrils like pits full of blood to the brim, And with circles of red for his eye-sockets' rim.

Then I cast loose my buff-coat, each holster let fall. Shook off both my jack-boots, let go belt and all,50 Stood up in the stirrup, leaned, patted his ear, Called my Roland his pet-name, my horse without peer; Clapped my hands, laughed and sang, any noise, bad or good, Till at length into Aix Roland galloped and stood. And all I remember is—friends flocking round55 As I sat with his head 'twixt my knees on the ground; And no voice but was praising this Roland of mine, As I poured down his throat our last measure of wine, Which (the burgesses voted by common consent) Was no more than his due who brought good news from Ghent.60

[INCIDENT OF THE FRENCH CAMP]

You know, we French stormed Ratisbon: A mile or so away, On a little mound, Napoleon Stood on our storming-day; With neck out-thrust,[245] you fancy how,5 Legs wide, arms locked behind, As if to balance the prone brow Oppressive with its mind.

Just as perhaps he mused[246] "My plans That soar, to earth may fall,10 Let once my army-leader Lannes[247] Waver at yonder wall,"— Out 'twixt the battery-smokes there flew A rider, bound on bound Full-galloping; nor bridle drew15 Until he reached the mound.

Then off there flung in smiling joy, And held himself erect By just his horse's mane, a boy: You hardly could suspect—20 (So tight he kept his lips compressed, Scarce any blood came through) You looked twice ere you saw his breast Was all but shot in two.

"Well," cried he, "Emperor, by God's grace25 We've got you Ratisbon! The Marshal's in the market-place, And you'll be there anon To see your flag-bird[248] flap his vans Where I, to heart's desire,30 Perched him!" The chief's eye flashed; his plans Soared up again like fire.

The chief's eye flashed; but presently Softened itself, as sheathes A film the mother-eagle's eye35 When her bruised eaglet breathes; "You're wounded!" "Nay," the soldier's pride Touched to the quick, he said: "I'm killed, Sire!" And his chief beside, Smiling the boy fell dead.40

[THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN]

A Child's Story

(Written for, and inscribed to, W. M. the Younger)

I

Hamelin[249] Town's in Brunswick, By famous Hanover city; The river Weser, deep and wide, Washes its wall on the southern side; A pleasanter spot you never spied;5 But when begins my ditty, Almost five hundred years ago, To see the townsfolk suffer so From vermin, was a pity.

II

Rats!10 They fought the dogs and killed the cats, And bit the babies in the cradles, And ate the cheeses out of the vats, And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles, Split open the kegs of salted sprats,15 Made nests inside men's Sunday hats, And even spoiled the women's chats By drowning their speaking With shrieking and squeaking In fifty different sharps and flats.20

III

At last the people in a body To the Town Hall came flocking: "'Tis clear," cried they, "our Mayor's a noddy; And as for our Corporation—shocking To think we buy gowns lined with ermine25 For dolts that can't or won't determine What's best to rid us of our vermin! You hope, because you're old and obese, To find in the furry civic robe ease? Rouse up, sirs! Give your brains a racking30 To find the remedy we're lacking, Or, sure as fate, we'll send you packing!" At this the Mayor and Corporation Quaked with a mighty consternation.

IV

An hour they sat in council;35 At length the Mayor broke silence: "For a guilder[250] I'd my ermine gown sell, I wish I were a mile hence! It's easy to bid one rack one's brain— I'm sure my poor head aches again,40 I've scratched it so, and all in vain. O for a trap, a trap, a trap!" Just as he said this, what should hap At the chamber-door but a gentle tap? "Bless us," cried the Mayor, "what's that?"45 (With the Corporation as he sat, Looking little though wondrous fat; Nor brighter was his eye, nor moister Than a too-long-opened oyster, Save when at noon his paunch grew mutinous50 For a plate of turtle green and glutinous) "Only a scraping of shoes on the mat? Anything like the sound of a rat Makes my heart go pit-a-pat!"

V

"Come in!" the Mayor cried, looking bigger:55 And in did come the strangest figure! His queer long coat from heel to head Was half of yellow and half of red, And he himself was tall and thin, With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin,60 And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin, No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin, But lips where smiles went out and in; There was no guessing his kith and kin: And nobody could enough admire65 The tall man and his quaint attire. Quoth one: "It's as my great grandsire, Starting up at the Trump of Doom's[251] tone, Had walked this way from his painted tombstone!"

VI

He advanced to the council-table:70 And, "Please your honors," said he, "I'm able, By means of a secret charm, to draw All creatures living beneath the sun, That creep or swim or fly or run, After me so as you never saw!75 And I chiefly use my charm On creatures that do people harm, The mole and toad and newt and viper; And people call me the Pied Piper."[252] (And here they noticed round his neck80 A scarf of red and yellow stripe, To match with his coat of the self-same cheque; And at the scarf's end hung a pipe; And his fingers, they noticed, were ever straying As if impatient to be playing85 Upon this pipe, as low it dangled Over his vesture so old-fangled.) "Yet," said he, "poor piper as I am, In Tartary I freed the Cham,[253] Last June, from his huge swarms of gnats;90 I eased in Asia the Nizam[254] Of a monstrous brood of vampire-bats: And as for what your brain bewilders, If I can rid your town of rats Will you give me a thousand guilders?"95 "One? fifty thousand!"—was the exclamation Of the astonished Mayor and Corporation.

VII

Into the street the Piper stept, Smiling first a little smile, As if he knew what magic slept100 In his quiet pipe the while; Then, like a musical adept, To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled, And green and blue his sharp eyes twinkled, Like a candle-flame where salt is sprinkled;105 And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered, You heard as if an army muttered; And the muttering grew to a grumbling; And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling; And out of the houses the rats came tumbling.110 Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats, Brown rats, black rats, gray rats, tawny rats, Grave old plodders, gay young friskers, Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins, Cocking tails and pricking whiskers,115 Families by tens and dozens, Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives— Followed the Piper for their lives. From street to street he piped advancing, And step by step they followed dancing,120 Until they came to the river Weser, Wherein all plunged and perished! —Save one who, stout as Julius Cæsar, Swam across and lived to carry (As he, the manuscript he cherished)125 To rat-land home his commentary:[255] Which was, "At the first shrill notes of the pipe, I heard a sound as of scraping tripe, And putting apples, wondrous ripe, Into a cider-press's gripe:130 And a moving away of pickle-tub boards, And a leaving ajar of conserve-cupboards, And a drawing the corks of train-oil flasks, And a breaking the hoops of butter casks: And it seemed as if a voice135 (Sweeter far than by harp or by psaltery Is breathed) called out, 'O rats, rejoice! The world is grown to one vast drysaltery! So munch on, crunch on, take your nuncheon, Breakfast, supper, dinner, luncheon!'140 And just as a bulky sugar-puncheon, Already staved, like a great sun shone Glorious scarce an inch before me, Just as methought it said, 'Come, bore me!' —I found the Weser rolling o'er me."145

VIII

You should have heard the Hamelin people Ringing the bells till they rocked the steeple. "Go," cried the Mayor, "and get long poles, Poke out the nests and block up the holes! Consult with carpenters and builders,150 And leave in our town not even a trace Of the rats!"—when suddenly, up the face Of the Piper perked in the market-place, With a, "First, if you please, my thousand guilders!"

IX

A thousand guilders! The Mayor looked blue;155 So did the Corporation too. For council dinners made rare havoc With Claret, Moselle, Vin-de-Grave, Hock; And half the money would replenish Their cellar's biggest butt with Rhenish.160 To pay this sum to a wandering fellow With a gypsy coat of red and yellow! "Beside," quoth the Mayor with a knowing wink, "Our business was done at the river's brink; We saw with our eyes the vermin sink,165 And what's dead can't come to life, I think. So, friend, we're not the folks to shrink From the duty of giving you something for drink, And a matter of money to put in your poke[256]; But as for the guilders, what we spoke170 Of them, as you very well know, was in joke. Beside, our losses have made us thrifty. A thousand guilders! Come, take fifty!"

X

The Piper's face fell, and he cried; "No trifling! I can't wait, beside!175 I've promised to visit by dinner time Bagdat, and accept the prime Of the Head-Cook's pottage, all he's rich in, For having left, in the Caliph's kitchen, Of a nest of scorpions no survivor:180 With him I proved no bargain-driver, With you, don't think I'll bate a stiver[257]! And folks who put me in a passion May find me pipe after another fashion."

XI

"How?" cried the Mayor, "d'ye think I brook185 Being worse treated than a Cook? Insulted by a lazy ribald With idle pipe and vesture piebald[258]? You threaten us, fellow? Do your worst, Blow your pipe there till you burst!"190

XII

Once more he stept into the street, And to his lips again Laid his long pipe of smooth straight cane; And ere he blew three notes (such sweet Soft notes as yet musician's cunning195 Never gave the enraptured air) There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling; Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering, Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering,200 And, like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is scattering, Out came the children running. All the little boys and girls, With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls, And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls,205 Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after The wonderful music with shouting and laughter.

XIII

The Mayor was dumb, and the Council stood As if they were changed into blocks of wood, Unable to move a step, or cry210 To the children merrily skipping by, —Could only follow with the eye That joyous crowd at the Piper's back. But how the Mayor was on the rack, And the wretched Council's bosoms beat,215 As the Piper turned from the High Street To where the Weser rolled its waters Right in the way of their sons and daughters! However, he turned from South to West, And to Koppelberg Hill his steps addressed,220 And after him the children pressed; Great was the joy in every breast. "He never can cross that mighty top! He's forced to let the piping drop, And we shall see our children stop!"225 When, lo, as they reached the mountain-side, A wondrous portal opened wide, As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed; And the Piper advanced and the children followed, And when all were in to the very last,230 The door in the mountain-side shut fast. Did I say, all? No! One was lame, And could not dance the whole of the way; And in after years, if you would blame His sadness, he was used to say,—235 "It's dull in our town since my playmates left! I can't forget that I'm bereft Of all the pleasant sights they see, Which the Piper also promised me. For he led us, he said, to a joyous land,240 Joining the town and just at hand, Where waters gushed and fruit-trees grew And flowers put forth a fairer hue, And everything was strange and new; The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here,245 And their dogs outran our fallow deer, And honey-bees had lost their stings, And horses were born with eagles' wings: And just as I became assured My lame foot would be speedily cured,250 The music stopped and I stood still, And found myself outside the hill, Left alone against my will, To go now limping as before, And never hear of that country more!"255

XIV

Alas, alas! for Hamelin! There came into many a burgher's pate A text which says that heaven's gate Opes to the rich at as easy rate As the needle's eye[259]takes a camel in!260 The Mayor sent East, West, North, and South, To offer the Piper, by word of mouth, Wherever it was men's lot to find him, Silver and gold to his heart's content, If he'd only return the way he went,265 And bring the children behind him. But when they saw 'twas a lost endeavor, And Piper and dancers were gone forever, They made a decree that lawyers never Should think their records dated duly270 If, after the day of the month and year, These words did not as well appear, "And so long after what happened here On the Twenty-second of July, Thirteen hundred and seventy-six:"275 And the better in memory to fix The place of the children's last retreat, They called it the Pied Piper's Street— Where any one playing on pipe or tabor Was sure for the future to lose his labor.280 Nor suffered they hostelry or tavern To shock with mirth a street so solemn; But opposite the place of the cavern They wrote the story on a column, And on the great church-window painted285 The same, to make the world acquainted How their children were stolen away, And there it stands to this very day. And I must not omit to say That in Transylvania there's a tribe290 Of alien people who ascribe The outlandish ways and dress On which their neighbors lay such stress, To their fathers and mothers having risen Out of some subterraneous prison295 Into which they were trepanned Long time ago in a mighty band Out of Hamelin town in Brunswick land, But how or why, they don't understand.

XV

So, Willy, let me and you be wipers300 Of scores out with all men—especially pipers! And, whether they pipe us free fróm rats or fróm mice, If we've promised them aught, let us keep our promise!

[HERVÉ RIEL]

I

On the sea and at the Hogue,[260] sixteen hundred ninety-two, Did the English fight the French,—woe to France! And, the thirty-first of May, helter-skelter through the blue, Like a crowd of frightened porpoises a shoal of sharks pursue, Came crowding ship on ship to Saint Malo on the Rance, [261]5 With the English fleet in view.

II

'Twas the squadron that escaped, with the victor in full chase; First and foremost of the drove, in his great ship, Damfreville. Close on him fled, great and small, Twenty-two good ships in all;10 And they signalled to the place "Help the winners of a race! Get us guidance, give us harbor, take us quick—or, quicker still, Here's the English can and will!"

III

Then the pilots of the place put out brisk and leapt on board;15 "Why, what hope or chance have ships like these to pass?" laughed they: "Rocks to starboard, rocks to port, all the passage scarred and scored, Shall the 'Formidable' here with her twelve and eighty guns Think to make the river-mouth by the single narrow way, Trust to enter where 'tis ticklish for a craft of twenty tons,20 And with flow at full beside? Now, 'tis slackest ebb of tide. Reach the mooring? Rather say, While rock stands or water runs, Not a ship will leave the bay!"25

IV

Then was called a council straight, Brief and bitter the debate: "Here's the English at our heels; would you have them take in tow All that's left us of the fleet, linked together stern and bow, For a prize to Plymouth Sound[262]?30 Better run the ships aground!" (Ended Damfreville his speech.) "Not a minute more to wait! Let the Captains all and each Shove ashore, then blow up, burn the vessels on the beach!35 France must undergo her fate.

V

"Give the word!" But no such word Was ever spoke or heard; For up stood, for out stepped, for in struck amid all these —A Captain? A Lieutenant? A Mate—first, second, third?40 No such man of mark, and meet With his betters to compete! But a simple Breton sailor pressed[263] by Tourville[264] for the fleet, A poor coasting-pilot he, Hervé Riel the Croisickese.[265]

VI

And "What mockery or malice have we here?" cries Hervé Riel:45 "Are you mad, you Malouins? Are you cowards, fools, or rogues? Talk to me of rocks and shoals, me who took the soundings, tell On my fingers every bank, every shallow, every swell, 'Twixt the offing here and Grève where the river disembogues? Are you bought by English gold? Is it love the lying's for?50 Morn and eve, night and day, Have I piloted your bay, Entered free and anchored fast at the foot of Solidor. Burn the fleet and ruin France? That were worse than fifty Hogues! Sirs, they know I speak the truth! Sirs, believe me there's a way!55 Only let me lead the line, Have the biggest ship to steer, Get this 'Formidable' clear, Make the others follow mine, And I lead them, most and least, by a passage I know well,60 Right to Solidor past Grève, And there lay them safe and sound; And if one ship misbehave, —Keel so much as grate the ground, Why, I've nothing but my life,—here's my head!" cries Hervé Riel.65

VII

Not a minute more to wait. "Steer us in, then, small and great! Take the helm, lead the line, save the squadron!" cried its chief. Captains, give the sailor place! He is Admiral, in brief.70 Still the north-wind, by God's grace! See the noble fellow's face As the big ship, with a bound, Clears the entry like a hound, Keeps the passage as its inch of way were the wide sea's profound!75 See, safe through shoal and rock, How they follow in a flock, Not a ship that misbehaves, not a keel that grates the ground, Not a spar that comes to grief! The peril, see, is past,80 All are harbored to the last, And just as Hervé Riel hollas "Anchor!"—sure as fate, Up the English come—too late!

VIII

So, the storm subsides to calm: They see the green trees wave85 On the heights o'erlooking Grève. Hearts that bled are stanched with balm. "Just our rapture to enhance, Let the English rake the bay, Gnash their teeth and glare askance90 As they cannonade away! 'Neath rampired Solidor pleasant riding on the Rance!" How hope succeeds despair on each Captain's countenance! Out burst all with one accord, "This is Paradise for Hell!95 Let France, let France's King Thank the man that did the thing!" What a shout, and all one word, "Hervé Riel!" As he stepped in front once more,100 Not a symptom of surprise In the frank blue Breton eyes, Just the same man as before.

IX

Then said Damfreville, "My friend, I must speak out at the end,105 Though I find the speaking hard. Praise is deeper than the lips: You have saved the King his ships, You must name your own reward. 'Faith, our sun was near eclipse!110 Demand whate'er you will, France remains your debtor still. Ask to heart's content and have! or my name's not Damfreville."

X

Then a beam of fun outbroke On the bearded mouth that spoke,115 As the honest heart laughed through Those frank eyes of Breton blue: "Since I needs must say my say, Since on board the duty's done, And from Malo Roads to Croisic Point, what is it but a run?—120 Since 'tis ask and have, I may— Since the others go ashore— Come! A good whole holiday! Leave to go and see my wife, whom I call the Belle Aurore!" That he asked and that he got,—nothing more.125

XI

Name and deed alike are lost: Not a pillar nor a post In his Croisic keeps alive the feat as it befell; Not a head in white and black On a single fishing smack,130 In memory of the man but for whom had gone to wrack All that France saved from the fight whence England bore the bell. Go to Paris: rank on rank Search the heroes flung pell-mell On the Louvre, face and flank!135 You shall look long enough ere you come to Hervé Riel. So, for better and for worse, Hervé Riel, accept my verse! In my verse, Hervé Riel, do thou once more Save the squadron, honor France, love thy wife the Belle Aurore!140

[DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI]

THE WHITE SHIP

Henry I[266] of England—25th Nov., 1120

By none but me can the tale be told, The butcher of Rouen,[267] poor Berold. (Lands are swayed by a king on a throne.) 'Twas a royal train put forth to sea, Yet the tale can be told by none but me.5 (The sea hath no king but God alone.)

King Henry held it as life's whole gain That after his death his son should reign.

'Twas so in my youth I heard men say, And my old age calls it back to-day.10

King Henry of England's realm was he, And Henry Duke of Normandy.

The times had changed when on either coast "Clerkly Harry" was all his boast.[268]

Of ruthless[269] strokes full many an one15 He had struck to crown himself and his son; And his elder brother's eyes were gone.[270]

And when to the chase his court would crowd, The poor flung ploughshares on his road, And shrieked: "Our cry is from King to God!"20

But all the chiefs of the English land Had knelt and kissed the Prince's hand.

And next with his son he sailed to France To claim the Norman allegiance:

And every baron in Normandy25 Had taken the oath of fealty.[271]

'Twas sworn and sealed, and the day had come When the King and the Prince might journey home:

For Christmas cheer is to home hearts dear, And Christmas now was drawing near.30

Stout Fitz-Stephen came to the King,— A pilot famous in seafaring;

And he held to the King in all men's sight, A mark of gold for his tribute's right.

"Liege[272] Lord! my father guided the ship35 From whose boat your father's[273] foot did slip When he caught the English soil in his grip,

"And cried: 'By this clasp I claim command O'er every rood[274] of English land!'

"He was borne to the realm you rule o'er now40 In that ship with the archer carved at her prow:

"And thither I'll bear an' it be my due, Your father's son and his grandson too.

"The famed White Ship is mine in the bay; From Harfleur's harbor[275] she sails to-day,45

"With masts fair-pennoned as Norman spears And with fifty well-tried mariners."

Quoth the King: "My ships are chosen each one, But I'll not say nay to Stephen's son.

"My son and daughter and fellowship50 Shall cross the water in the White Ship."

The King set sail with the eve's south wind, And soon he left that coast behind.

The Prince and all his, a princely show, Remained in the good White Ship to go.55

With noble knights and with ladies fair, With courtiers and sailors gathered there, Three hundred living souls we were:

And I Berold was the meanest hind[276] In all that train to the Prince assign'd.60

The Prince was a lawless shameless youth; From his father's loins he sprang without ruth:

Eighteen years till then had he seen, And the devil's dues in him were eighteen.

And now he cried: "Bring wine from below;65 Let the sailors revel ere yet they row:

"Our speed shall o'ertake my father's flight Though we sail from the harbor at midnight."

The rowers made good cheer without check; The lords and ladies obeyed his beck;70 The night was light and they danced on the deck.

But at midnight's stroke they cleared the bay, And the White Ship furrowed the water-way.

The sails were set, and the oars kept tune To the double flight of the ship and the moon:75

Swifter and swifter the White Ship sped Till she flew as the spirit flies from the dead:

As white as a lily glimmered she Like a ship's fair ghost upon the sea.

And the Prince cried, "Friends, 'tis the hour to sing!80 Is a songbird's course so swift on the wing?"

And under the winter stars' still throng, From brown throats, white throats, merry and strong, The knights and the ladies raised a song.

A song,—nay, a shriek that rent the sky,85 That leaped o'er the deep!—the grievous cry Of three hundred living that now must die.

An instant shriek that sprang to the shock As the ship's keel felt the sunken rock.

'Tis said that afar—a shrill strange sigh—90 The King's ships heard it and knew not why.

Pale Fitz-Stephen stood by the helm 'Mid all those folk that the waves must whelm.

A great King's heir for the waves to whelm And the helpless pilot pale at the helm!95

The ship was eager and sucked athirst, By the stealthy stab of the sharp reef pierced,

And like the moil[277] round a sinking cup, The waters against her crowded up.

A moment the pilot's senses spin,—100 The next he snatched the Prince 'mid the din, Cut the boat loose, and the youth leaped in.

A few friends leaped with him, standing near. "Row! the sea's smooth and the night is clear!"

"What! none to be saved but these and I?"105 "Row, row as you'd live! All here must die!"

Out of the churn of the choking ship, Which the gulf grapples and the waves strip, They struck with the strained oars' flash and dip.

'Twas then o'er the splitting bulwarks' brim110 The Prince's sister screamed to him.

He gazed aloft still rowing apace, And through the whirled surf he knew her face.

To the toppling decks clave one and all As a fly cleaves to a chamber-wall.115

I Berold was clinging anear; I prayed for myself and quaked with fear, But I saw his eyes as he looked at her.

He knew her face and he heard her cry, And he said, "Put back! she must not die!"120

And back with the current's force they reel Like a leaf that's drawn to a water-wheel.

'Neath the ship's travail they scarce might float, But he rose and stood in the rocking boat.

Low the poor ship leaned on the tide:125 O'er the naked keel as she best might slide, The sister toiled to the brother's side.

He reached an oar to her from below, And stiffened his arms to clutch her so.130 And "Saved!" was the cry from many a throat.

And down to the boat they leaped and fell: It turned as a bucket turns in a well, And nothing was there but the surge and swell.

The Prince that was and the King to come,135 There in an instant gone to his doom,

In spite of all England's bended knee And maugre[278] the Norman fealty!

He was a Prince of lust and pride; He showed no grace till the hour he died.140

When he should be king, he oft would vow, He'd yoke the peasant to his own plough. O'er him the ships score their furrows now.

God only knows where his soul did wake, But I saw him die for his sister's sake.145

By none but me can the tale be told, The butcher of Rouen, poor Berold. (Lands are swayed by a king on a throne.)

'Twas a royal train put forth to sea, Yet the tale can be told by none but me.150 (The sea hath no king but God alone.)

And now the end came o'er the waters' womb Like the last great Day that's yet to come.

With prayers in vain and curses in vain, The White Ship sundered on the mid-main:155

And what were men and what was a ship Were toys and splinters in the sea's grip.

I Berold was down in the sea; And passing strange though the thing may be, Of dreams then known I remember me.160

Blithe is the shout on Harfleur's strand When morning lights the sails to land:

And blithe is Honfleur's[279] echoing gloam When mothers call the children home:

And high do the bells of Rouen beat165 When the Body of Christ[280] goes down the street.

These things and the like were heard and shown In a moment's trance 'neath the sea alone;

And when I rose, 'twas the sea did seem, And not these things, to be all a dream.170

The ship was gone and the crowd was gone, And the deep shuddered and the moon shone:

And in a strait grasp my arms did span The mainyard rent from the mast where it ran; And on it with me was another man.175

Where lands were none 'neath the dim sea-sky, We told our names, that man and I.

"O I am Godefroy l'Aigle hight,[281] And son I am to a belted knight."

"And I am Berold the butcher's son180 Who slays the beasts in Rouen town."

Then cried we upon God's name, as we Did drift on the bitter winter sea.

But lo! a third man rose o'er the wave, And we said, "Thank God! us three may He save!"185

He clutched to the yard with panting stare, And we looked and knew Fitz-Stephen there.

He clung, and "What of the Prince?" quoth he. "Lost, lost!" we cried. He cried, "Woe on me!" And loosed his hold and sank through the sea.190

And soul with soul again in that space We two were together face to face:

And each knew each, as the moment sped, Less for one living than for one dead:

And every still star overhead195 Seemed an eye that knew we were but dead.

And the hours passed; till the noble's son Sighed, "God be thy help! my strength's foredone[282]!

"O farewell, friend, for I can no more!" "Christ take thee!" I moaned; and his life was o'er.200

Three hundred souls were all lost but one, And I drifted over the sea alone.

At last the morning rose on the sea Like an angel's wing that beat tow'ds me.

Sore numbed I was in my sheepskin coat;205 Half dead I hung, and might nothing note, Till I woke sun-warmed in a fisher-boat.

The sun was high o'er the eastern brim As I praised God and gave thanks to Him.

That day I told my tale to a priest,210 Who charged me, till the shrift[283] were releas'd, That I should keep it in mine own breast.

And with the priest I thence did fare To King Henry's court at Winchester.[284]

We spoke with the King's high chamberlain,215 And he wept and mourned again and again, As if his own son had been slain:

And round us ever there crowded fast Great men with faces all aghast:

And who so bold that might tell the thing220 Which now they knew to their lord the King? Much woe I learned in their communing.

The King had watched with a heart sore stirred For two whole days, and this was the third:

And still to all his court would he say,225 "What keeps my son so long away?"

And they said: "The ports lie far and wide That skirt the swell of the English tide;

"And English cliffs are not more white Than her women are, and scarce so light230 Her skies as their eyes are blue and bright;

"And in some port that he reached from France The Prince has lingered for his pleasaunce."[285]

But once the King asked: "What distant cry Was that we heard 'twixt the sea and sky?"235

And one said: "With suchlike shouts, pardie[286] Do the fishers fling their nets at sea."

And one: "Who knows not the shrieking quest When the sea-mew misses its young from its nest?"

'Twas thus till now they had soothed his dread240 Albeit they knew not what they said:

But who should speak to-day of the thing That all knew there except the King?

Then pondering much they found a way, And met round the King's high seat that day.245

And the King sat with a heart sore stirred, And seldom he spoke and seldom heard.

'Twas then through the hall the King was 'ware Of a little boy with golden hair,

As bright as the golden poppy is250 That the beach breeds for the surf to kiss:

Yet pale his cheek as the thorn in Spring, And his garb black like the raven's wing.

Nothing heard but his foot through the hall, For now the lords were silent all.255

And the King wondered, and said, "Alack! Who sends me a fair boy dressed in black?

"Why, sweet heart, do you pace through the hall As though my court were a funeral?"

Then lowly knelt the child at the dais,[287]260 And looked up weeping in the King's face.

"O wherefore black, O King, ye may say, For white is the hue of death to-day.

"Your son and all his fellowship Lie low in the sea with the White Ship."265

King Henry fell as a man struck dead; And speechless still he stared from his bed When to him next day my rede[288] I read.

There's many an hour must needs beguile A King's high heart that he should smile,—270

Full many a lordly hour, full fain Of his realm's rule and pride of his reign:—

But this King never smiled again.

By none but me can the tale be told, The butcher of Rouen, poor Berold.275 (Lands are swayed by a king on a throne.) 'Twas a royal train put forth to sea, Yet the tale can be told by none but me. (The sea hath no king but God alone.)

[WILLIAM MORRIS]

ATALANTA'S RACE

Argument

Atalanta, daughter of King Schœneus, not willing to lose her virgin's estate, made it a law to all suitors that they should run a race with her in the public place, and if they failed to overcome her should die unrevenged; and thus many brave men perished. At last came Milanion, the son of Amphidamas, who, outrunning her with the help of Venus, gained the virgin and wedded her.

Through thick Arcadian[289] woods a hunter went, Following the beasts up, on a fresh spring day; But since his horn-tipped bow, but seldom bent, Now at the noon-tide naught had happed to slay, Within a vale he called his hounds away,5 Hearkening the echoes of his lone voice cling About the cliffs and through the beech-trees ring.

But when they ended, still awhile he stood, And but the sweet familiar thrush could hear, And all the day-long noises of the wood,10 And o'er the dry leaves of the vanished year His hounds' feet pattering as they drew anear, And heavy breathing from their heads low hung, To see the mighty cornel[290] bow unstrung.

Then smiling did he turn to leave the place,15 But with his first step some new fleeting thought A shadow cast across his sunburnt face; I think the golden net that April brought From some warm world his wavering soul had caught; For, sunk in vague sweet longing, did he go20 Betwixt the trees with doubtful steps and slow.

Yet howsoever slow he went, at last The trees grew sparser, and the wood was done; Whereon one farewell, backward look he cast, Then, turning round to see what place was won,25 With shaded eyes looked underneath the sun, And o'er green meads and new-turned furrows brown Beheld the gleaming of King Schœneus'[291] town.

So thitherward he turned, and on each side The folk were busy on the teeming land,30 And man and maid from the brown furrows cried, Or midst the newly blossomed vines did stand, And as the rustic weapon pressed the hand Thought of the nodding of the well-filled ear, Or how the knife the heavy bunch should shear.35

Merry it was: about him sung the birds, The spring flowers bloomed along the firm dry road, The sleek-skinned mothers of the sharp-horned herds Now for the barefoot milking-maidens lowed; While from the freshness of his blue abode,40 Glad his death-bearing arrows to forget, The broad sun blazed, nor scattered plagues as yet.

Through such fair things unto the gates he came, And found them open, as though peace were there; Wherethrough, unquestioned of his race or name,45 He entered, and along the streets 'gan fare, Which at the first of folk were wellnigh bare; But pressing on, and going more hastily, Men hurrying too he 'gan at last to see.

Following the last of these, he still pressed on,50 Until an open space he came unto, Where wreaths of fame had oft been lost and won, For feats of strength folk there were wont to do. And now our hunter looked for something new, Because the whole wide space was bare, and stilled55 The high seats were, with eager people filled.

There with the others to a seat he gat, Whence he beheld a broidered canopy, 'Neath which in fair array King Schœneus sat Upon his throne with councillors thereby;60 And underneath this well-wrought seat and high, He saw a golden image of the sun,[292] A silver image of the Fleet-foot One.[293]

A brazen altar stood beneath their feet Whereon a thin flame flickered in the wind;65 Nigh this a herald clad in raiment meet Made ready even now his horn to wind, By whom a huge man held a sword, intwined With yellow flowers; these stood a little space From off the altar, nigh the starting-place.70

And there two runners did the sign abide Foot set to foot,—a young man slim and fair, Crisp-haired, well-knit, with firm limbs often tried In places where no man his strength may spare; Dainty his thin coat was, and on his hair75 A golden circlet of renown he wore, And in his hand an olive garland bore.

But on this day with whom shall he contend? A maid stood by him like Diana[294] clad When in the woods she lists[295] her bow to bend,80 Too fair for one to look on and be glad, Who scarcely yet has thirty summer's had, If he must still behold her from afar; Too fair to let the world live free from war.

She seemed all earthly matters to forget;85 Of all tormenting lines her face was clear, Her wide gray eyes upon the goal were set Calm and unmoved as though no soul were near, But her foe trembled as a man in fear; Nor from her loveliness one moment turned90 His anxious face with fierce desire that burned.

Now through the hush there broke the trumpet's clang Just as the setting sun made eventide. Then from light feet a spurt of dust there sprang, And swiftly were they running side by side;95 But silent did the thronging folk abide Until the turning-post was reached at last, And round about it still abreast they passed.

But when the people saw how close they ran, When half-way to the starting-point they were,100 A cry of joy broke forth, whereat the man Headed the white-foot runner, and drew near Unto the very end of all his fear; And scarce his straining feet the ground could feel, And bliss unhoped for o'er his heart 'gan steal.105

But midst the loud victorious shouts he heard Her footsteps drawing nearer, and the sound Of fluttering raiment, and thereat afeard His flushed and eager face he turned around, And even then he felt her past him bound110 Fleet as the wind, but scarcely saw her there Till on the goal she laid her fingers fair.

There stood she breathing like a little child Amid some warlike clamor laid asleep, For no victorious joy her red lips smiled;115 Her cheek its wonted freshness did but keep; No glance lit up her clear gray eyes and deep, Though some divine thought softened all her face As once more rang the trumpet through the place.

But her late foe stopped short amidst his course,120 One moment gazed upon her piteously, Then with a groan his lingering feet did force To leave the spot whence he her eyes could see; And, changed like one who knows his time must be But short and bitter, without any word125 He knelt before the bearer of the sword;

Then high rose up the gleaming deadly blade, Bared of its flowers, and through the crowded place Was silence how, and midst of it the maid Went by the poor wretch at a gentle pace,130 And he to hers upturned his sad white face; Nor did his eyes behold another sight Ere on his soul there fell eternal night.

So was the pageant ended, and all folk, Talking of this and that familiar thing135 In little groups from that sad concourse broke, For now the shrill bats were upon the wing, And soon dark night would slay the evening, And in dark gardens sang the nightingale Her little-heeded, oft-repeated tale.140

And with the last of all the hunter went, Who, wondering at the strange sight he had seen, Prayed an old man to tell him what it meant, Both why the vanquished man so slain had been, And if the maiden were an earthly queen,145 Or rather what much more she seemed to be, No sharer in the world's mortality.

"Stranger," said he, "I pray she soon may die Whose lovely youth has slain so many an one! King Schœneus' daughter is she verily,150 Who when her eyes first looked upon the sun Was fain to end her life but new begun, For he had vowed to leave but men alone Sprung from his loins when he from earth was gone.

"Therefore he bade one leave her in the wood,155 And let wild things deal with her as they might, But this being done, some cruel god thought good To save her beauty in the world's despite: Folk say that her, so delicate and white As now she is, a rough, root-grubbing bear160 Amidst her shapeless cubs at first did rear.

"In course of time the woodfolk slew her nurse, And to their rude abode the youngling brought, And reared her up to be a kingdom's curse, Who grown a woman, of no kingdom thought,165 But armed and swift, 'mid beasts destruction wrought, Nor spared two shaggy centaur kings to slay, To whom her body seemed an easy prey.

"So to this city, led by fate, she came Whom known by signs, whereof I cannot tell,170 King Schœneus for his child at last did claim, Nor otherwise since that day doth she dwell, Sending too many a noble soul to hell.— What! thine eyes glisten! what then, thinkest thou Her shining head unto the yoke to bow?175

"Listen, my son, and love some other maid, For she the saffron gown[296] will never wear, And on no flower-strewn couch shall she be laid, Nor shall her voice make glad a lover's ear: Yet if of Death thou hast not any fear,180 Yea, rather, if thou lovest him utterly, Thou still may'st woo her ere thou comest to die,

"Like him that on this day thou sawest lie dead; For, fearing as I deem the sea-born one,[297] The maid has vowed e'en such a man to wed185 As in the course her swift feet can outrun, But whoso fails herein, his days are done: He came the nighest that was slain to-day, Although with him I deem she did but play.

"Behold, such mercy Atalanta gives190 To those that long to win her loveliness; Be wise! be sure that many a maid there lives Gentler than she, of beauty little less, Whose swimming eyes thy loving words shall bless, When in some garden, knee set close to knee,195 Thou sing'st the song that love may teach to thee."

So to the hunter spake that ancient man, And left him for his own home presently: But he turned round, and through the moonlight wan Reached the thick wood, and there, 'twixt tree and tree200 Distraught he passed the long night feverishly, 'Twixt sleep and waking, and at dawn arose To wage hot war against his speechless foes.

There to the hart's flank seemed his shaft to grow, As panting down the broad green glades he flew,205 There by his horn the Dryads[298] well might know His thrust against the bear's heart had been true, And there Adonis' bane[299] his javelin slew, But still in vain through rough and smooth he went, For none the more his restlessness was spent.210

So wandering, he to Argive[300] cities came, And in the lists with valiant men he stood, And by great deeds he won him praise and fame, And heaps of wealth for little-valued blood; But none of all these things, or life, seemed good215 Unto his heart, where still unsatisfied A ravenous longing warred with fear and pride.

Therefore it happed when but a month had gone Since he had left King Schœneus' city old, In hunting-gear again, again alone220 The forest-bordered meads did he behold, Where still mid thoughts of August's quivering gold Folk hoed the wheat, and clipped the vine in trust Of faint October's purple-foaming must.[301]

And once again he passed the peaceful gate,225 While to his beating heart his lips did lie, That, owning not victorious love and fate, Said, half aloud, "And here too must I try, To win of alien men the mastery, And gather for my head fresh meed of fame,230 And cast new glory on my father's name."

In spite of that, how beat his heart, when first Folk said to him, "And art thou come to see That which still makes our city's name accurst Among all mothers for its cruelty?235 Then know indeed that fate is good to thee Because to-morrow a new luckless one Against the whitefoot maid is pledged to run."

So on the morrow with no curious eyes As once he did, that piteous sight he saw,240 Nor did that wonder in his heart arise As toward the goal the conquering maid 'gan draw, Nor did he gaze upon her eyes with awe, Too full the pain of longing filled his heart For fear or wonder there to have a part.245

But O, how long the night was ere it went! How long it was before the dawn begun Showed to the wakening birds the sun's intent That not in darkness should the world be done! And then, and then, how long before the sun250 Bade silently the toilers of the earth Get forth to fruitless cares or empty mirth!

And long it seemed that in the market-place He stood and saw the chaffering folk go by, Ere from the ivory throne King Schœneus' face255 Looked down upon the murmur royally, But then came trembling that the time was nigh When he midst pitying looks his love must claim, And jeering voices must salute his name.

But as the throng he pierced to gain the throne,260 His alien face distraught and anxious told What hopeless errand he was bound upon, And, each to each, folk whispered to behold His godlike limbs; nay, and one woman old As he went by must pluck him by the sleeve265 And pray him yet that wretched love to leave.

For sidling up she said, "Canst thou live twice, Fair son? canst thou have joyful youth again, That thus goest to the sacrifice, Thyself the victim? nay then, all in vain,270 Thy mother bore her longing and her pain, And one more maiden on the earth must dwell Hopeless of joy, nor fearing death and hell.

"O fool, thou knowest not the compact then That with the three-formed goddess she has made275 To keep her from the loving lips of men, And in no saffron gown to be arrayed, And therewithal with glory to be paid, And love of her the moonlit river sees White 'gainst the shadow of the formless trees.280

"Come back, and I myself will pray for thee Unto the sea-born framer of delights, To give thee her who on the earth may be The fairest stirrer-up to death and fights, To quench with hopeful days and joyous nights285 The flame that doth thy youthful heart consume: Come back, nor give thy beauty to the tomb."

How should he listen to her earnest speech? Words, such as he not once or twice had said Unto himself, whose meaning scarce could reach290 The firm abode of that sad hardihead— He turned about, and through the market stead Swiftly he passed, until before the throne In the cleared space he stood at last alone.

Then said the King, "Stranger, what dost thou here?295 Have any of my folk done ill to thee? Or art thou of the forest men in fear? Or art thou of the sad fraternity Who still will strive my daughter's mates to be, Staking their lives to win to earthly bliss,300 The lonely maid, the friend of Artemis?"

"O King," he said, "thou sayest the word indeed; Nor will I quit the strife till I have won My sweet delight, or death to end my need. And know that I am called Milanion,305 Of King Amphidamas the well-loved son: So fear not that to thy old name, O King, Much loss or shame my victory will bring."

"Nay, Prince," said Schœneus, "welcome to this land Thou wert indeed, if thou wert here to try310 Thy strength 'gainst some one mighty of his hand; Nor would we grudge thee well-won mastery. But now, why wilt thou come to me to die, And at my door lay down thy luckless head, Swelling the band of the unhappy dead,315

"Whose curses even now my heart doth fear? Lo, I am old, and know what life can be, And what a bitter thing is death anear. O Son! be wise, and hearken unto me, And if no other can be dear to thee,320 At least as now, yet is the world full wide, And bliss in seeming hopeless hearts may hide:

"But if thou losest life, then all is lost." "Nay, King," Milanion said, "thy words are vain. Doubt not that I have counted well the cost.325 But say, on what day will thou that I gain Fulfilled delight, or death to end my pain? Right glad were I if it could be to-day, And all my doubts at rest forever lay."

"Nay," said King Schœneus, "thus it shall not be, But rather shalt thou let a month go by,331 And weary with thy prayers for victory What god thou know'st the kindest and most nigh. So doing, still perchance thou shalt not die: And with my good-will wouldst thou have the maid,335 For of the equal gods I grow afraid.

"And until then, O Prince, be thou my guest, And all these troublous things awhile forget." "Nay," said he, "couldst thou give my soul good rest, And on mine head a sleepy garland set,340 Then had I 'scaped the meshes of the net, Nor shouldst thou hear from me another word; But now, make sharp thy fearful heading sword.

"Yet will I do what son of man may do, And promise all the gods may most desire,345 That to myself I may at least be true; And on that day my heart and limbs so tire, With utmost strain and measureless desire, That, at the worst, I may but fall asleep When in the sunlight round that sword shall sweep."350

He went with that, nor anywhere would bide, But unto Argos[302] restlessly did wend; And there, as one who lays all hope aside, Because the leech has said his life must end, Silent farewell he bade to foe and friend,355 And took his way unto the restless sea, For there he deemed his rest and help might be.

Upon the shore of Argolis there stands A temple to the goddess that he sought, That, turned unto the lion-bearing lands,360 Fenced from the east, of cold winds hath no thought, Though to no homestead there the sheaves are brought, No groaning press torments the close-clipped murk, Lonely the fane stands, far from all men's work.

Pass through a close, set thick with myrtle-trees,365 Through the brass doors that guard the holy place, And entering, hear the washing of the seas That twice a day rise high above the base, And with the southwest urging them, embrace The marble feet of her that standeth there,370 That shrink not, naked though they be and fair.

Small is the fane through which the sea-wind sings About Queen Venus'[303] well-wrought image white, But hung around are many precious things, The gifts of those who, longing for delight,375 Have hung them there within the goddess' sight, And in return have taken at her hands The living treasures of the Grecian lands.

And thither now has come Milanion, And showed unto the priests' wide-open eyes380 Gifts fairer than all those that there have shown, Silk cloths, inwrought with Indian fantasies, And bowls inscribed with sayings of the wise Above the deeds of foolish living things, And mirrors fit to be the gifts of kings.385

And now before the Sea-born One he stands, By the sweet veiling smoke made dim and soft, And while the incense trickles from his hands, And while the odorous smoke-wreaths hang aloft, Thus doth he pray to her: "O Thou, who oft390 Hast holpen[304] man and maid in their distress, Despise me not for this my wretchedness!

"O goddess, among us who dwell below, Kings and great men, great for a little while, Have pity on the lowly heads that bow,395 Nor hate the hearts that love them without guile; Wilt thou be worse than these, and is thy smile A vain device of him who set thee here, An empty dream of some artificer?

"O great one, some men love, and are ashamed;400 Some men are weary of the bonds of love; Yea, and by some men lightly art thou blamed, That from thy toils their lives they cannot move, And 'mid the ranks of men their manhood prove. Alas! O goddess, if thou slayest me405 What new immortal can I serve but thee?

"Think then, will it bring honor to thy head If folk say, 'Everything aside he cast And to all fame and honor was he dead, And to his one hope now is dead at last,410 Since all unholpen he is gone and past: Ah, the gods love not man, for certainly, He to his helper did not cease to cry."

"Nay, but thou wilt help; they who died before Not single-hearted as I deem came here,415 Therefore unthanked they laid their gifts before Thy stainless feet, still shivering with their fear, Lest in their eyes their true thought might appear, Who sought to be the lords of that fair town, Dreaded of men and winners of renown.420

"O Queen, thou knowest I pray not for this: O, set us down together in some place Where not a voice can break our heaven of bliss, Where naught but rocks and I can see her face, Softening beneath the marvel of thy grace,425 Where not a foot our vanished steps can track,— The golden age, the golden age come back!

"O fairest, hear me now, who do thy will, Plead for thy rebel that she be not slain, But live and love and be thy servant still:430 Ah, give her joy and take away my pain, And thus two long-enduring servants gain. An easy thing this is to do for me, What need of my vain words to weary thee!

"But none the less this place will I not leave435 Until I needs must go my death to meet, Or at thy hands some happy sign receive That in great joy we twain may one day greet Thy presence here and kiss thy silver feet, Such as we deem thee, fair beyond all words,440 Victorious o'er our servants and our lords."

Then from the altar back a space he drew, But from the Queen turned not his face away, But 'gainst a pillar leaned, until the blue That arched the sky, at ending of the day,445 Was turned to ruddy gold and changing gray, And clear, but low, the nigh-ebbed windless sea In the still evening murmured ceaselessly.

And there he stood when all the sun was down, Nor had he moved, when the dim golden light,450 Like the far lustre of a godlike town, Had left the world to seeming hopeless night, Nor would he move the more when wan moonlight Streamed through the pillars for a little while, And lighted up the white Queen's changeless smile.455

Naught noted he the shallow flowing sea As step by step it set the wrack a-swim, The yellow torchlight nothing noted he Wherein with fluttering gown and half-bared limb The temple damsels sung their midnight hymn,460 And naught the doubled stillness of the fane When they were gone and all was hushed again.

But when the waves had touched the marble base, And steps the fish swim over twice a day, The dawn beheld him sunken in his place465 Upon the floor; and sleeping there he lay, Not heeding aught the little jets of spray The roughened sea brought nigh, across him cast, For as one dead all thought from him had passed.

Yet long before the sun had showed his head,470 Long ere the varied hangings on the wall Had gained once more their blue and green and red, He rose as one some well-known sign doth call When war upon the city's gates doth fall, And scarce like one fresh risen out of sleep,475 He 'gan again his broken watch to keep.

Then he turned round; not for the sea-gull's cry That wheeled above the temple in his flight, Not for the fresh south-wind that lovingly Breathed on the new-born day and dying night,480 But some strange hope 'twixt fear and great delight Drew round his face, now flushed, now pale and wan, And still constrained his eyes the sea to scan.

Now a faint light lit up the southern sky, Not sun or moon, for all the world was gray,485 But this a bright cloud seemed, that drew anigh, Lighting the dull waves that beneath it lay As toward the temple still it took its way, And still grew greater, till Milanion Saw naught for dazzling light that round him shone.490

But as he staggered with his arms outspread, Delicious unnamed odors breathed around, For languid happiness he bowed his head, And with wet eyes sank down upon the ground, Nor wished for aught, nor any dream he found495 To give him reason for that happiness, Or make him ask more knowledge of his bliss.

At last his eyes were cleared, and he could see Through happy tears the goddess face to face With that faint image of Divinity,500 Whose well-wrought smile and dainty changeless grace Until that morn so gladdened all the place; Then he unwitting cried aloud her name, And covered up his eyes for fear and shame.

But through the stillness he her voice could hear505 Piercing his heart with joy scarce bearable, That said, "Milanion, wherefore dost thou fear? I am not hard to those who love me well; List to what I a second time will tell, And thou mayest hear perchance, and live to save510 The cruel maiden from a loveless grave.

"See, by my feet three golden apples lie— Such fruit among the heavy roses falls, Such fruit my watchful damsels carefully Store up within the best loved of my walls,515 Ancient Damascus,[305] where the lover calls Above my unseen head, and faint and light The rose-leaves flutter round me in the night.

"And note, that these are not alone most fair With heavenly gold, but longing strange they bring520 Unto the hearts of men, who will not care, Beholding these, for any once-loved thing Till round the shining sides their fingers cling. And thou shalt see thy well-girt swiftfoot maid By sight of these amid her glory stayed.525

"For bearing these within a scrip with thee, When first she heads thee from the starting-place Cast down the first one for her eyes to see, And when she turns aside make on apace, And if again she heads thee in the race530 Spare not the other two to cast aside If she not long enough behind will bide.

"Farewell, and when has come the happy time That she Diana's raiment must unbind And all the world seems blessed with Saturn's[306] clime,535 And thou with eager arms about her twined Beholdest first her gray eyes growing kind, Surely, O trembler, thou shalt scarcely then Forget the Helper of unhappy men."

Milanion raised his head at this last word,540 For now so soft and kind she seemed to be No longer of her Godhead was he feared; Too late he looked, for nothing could he see But the white image glimmering doubtfully In the departing twilight cold and gray,545 And those three apples on the steps that lay.

These then he caught up quivering with delight, Yet fearful lest it all might be a dream, And though aweary with the watchful night, And sleepless nights of longing, still did deem550 He could not sleep; but yet the first sunbeam That smote the fane across the heaving deep Shone on him laid in calm untroubled sleep.

But little ere the noontide did he rise, And why he felt so happy scarce could tell555 Until the gleaming apples met his eyes. Then, leaving the fair place where this befell, Oft he looked back as one who loved it well, Then homeward to the haunts of men 'gan wend To bring all things unto a happy end.560

Now has the lingering month at last gone by, Again are all folk round the running-place, Nor other seems the dismal pageantry Than heretofore, but that another face Looks o'er the smooth course ready for the race,565 For now, beheld of all, Milanion Stands on the spot he twice has looked upon.

But yet—what change is this that holds the maid? Does she indeed see in his glittering eye More than disdain of the sharp shearing blade,570 Some happy hope of help and victory? The others seemed to say, "We come to die, Look down upon us for a little while, That, dead, we may bethink us of thy smile."

But he—what look of mastery was this575 He cast on her? why were his lips so red? Why was his face so flushed with happiness? So looks not one who deems himself but dead, E'en if to death he bows a willing head; So rather looks a god well pleased to find580 Some earthly damsel fashioned to his mind.

Why must she drop her lids before his gaze, And even as she casts adown her eyes Redden to note his eager glance of praise, And wish that she were clad in other guise?585 Why must the memory to her heart arise Of things unnoticed when they first were heard, Some lover's song, some answering maiden's word?

What makes these longings, vague, without a name, And this vain pity never felt before,590 This sudden languor, this contempt of fame, This tender sorrow for the time past o'er, These doubts that grow each minute more and more? Why does she tremble as the time grows near, And weak defeat and woful victory fear?595

But while she seemed to hear her beating heart, Above their heads the trumpet blast rang out, And forth they sprang; and she must play her part; Then flew her white feet, knowing not a doubt, Though, slackening once, she turned her head about,600 But then she cried aloud and faster fled Than e'er before, and all men deemed him dead.

But with no sound he raised aloft his hand, And thence what seemed a ray of light there flew And past the maid rolled on along the sand;605 Then trembling she her feet together drew, And in her heart a strong desire there grew To have the toy; some god she thought had given That gift to her, to make of earth a heaven.

Then from the course with eager steps she ran,610 And in her odorous bosom laid the gold. But when she turned again, the great-limbed man Now well ahead she failed not to behold, And, mindful of her glory waxing cold, Sprang up and followed him in hot pursuit,615 Though with one hand she touched the golden fruit.

Note, too, the bow that she was wont to bear She laid aside to grasp the glittering prize, And o'er her shoulder from the quiver fair Three arrows fell and lay before her eyes620 Unnoticed, as amidst the people's cries She sprang to head the strong Milanion, Who now the turning-post had well-nigh won.

But as he set his mighty hand on it White fingers underneath his own were laid,625 And white limbs from his dazzled eyes did flit; Then he the second fruit cast by the maid, But she ran on awhile, then as afraid Wavered and stopped, and turned and made no stay, Until the globe with its bright fellow lay.630

Then, as a troubled glance she cast around, Now far ahead the Argive could she see, And in her garment's hem one hand she wound To keep the double prize, and strenuously Sped o'er the course, and little doubt had she635 To win the day, though now but scanty space Was left betwixt him and the winning-place.

Short was the way unto such winged feet, Quickly she gained upon him, till at last He turned about her eager eyes to meet640 And from his hand the third fair apple cast. She wavered not, but turned and ran so fast After the prize that should her bliss fulfil, That in her hand it lay ere it was still.

Nor did she rest, but turned about to win,645 Once more, an unblest woful victory— And yet—and yet—why does her breath begin To fail her, and her feet drag heavily? Why fails she now to see if far or nigh The goal is? why do her gray eyes grow dim?650 Why do these tremors run through every limb?

She spreads her arms abroad some stay to find, Else must she fall, indeed, and findeth this, A strong man's arms about her body twined. Nor may she shudder now to feel his kiss,655 So wrapped she is in new unbroken bliss: Made happy that the foe the prize hath won, She weeps glad tears for all her glory done.

Shatter the trumpet, hew adown the posts! Upon the brazen altar break the sword,660 And scatter incense to appease the ghosts Of those who died here by their own award. Bring forth the image of the mighty Lord, And her who unseen o'er the runners hung, And did a deed forever to be sung.665

Here are the gathered folk, make no delay, Open King Schœneus' well-filled treasury, Bring out the gifts long hid from light of day, The golden bowls o'erwrought with imagery, Gold chains, and unguents brought from over sea,670 The saffron gown the old Phœnician[307] brought, Within the temple of the Goddess wrought.

O ye, O damsels, who shall never see Her, that Love's servant bringeth now to you, Returning from another victory,675 In some cool bower do all that now is due! Since she in token of her service new Shall give to Venus offerings rich enow, Her maiden zone, her arrows, and her bow.

[HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW]

THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS

It was the schooner Hesperus, That sailed the wintry sea; And the skipper had taken his little daughtèr, To bear him company.

Blue were her eyes as the fairy-flax,5 Her cheeks like the dawn of day, And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds, That ope in the month of May.

The skipper he stood beside the helm, His pipe was in his mouth,10 And he watched how the veering flaw did blow The smoke now West, now South.

Then up and spake an old sailòr, Had sailed the Spanish Main, "I pray thee, put into yonder port,15 For I fear a hurricane.

"Last night, the moon had a golden ring, And to-night no moon we see!" The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe, And a scornful laugh laughed he.20

Colder and louder blew the wind, A gale from the Northeast; The snow fell hissing in the brine, And the billows frothed like yeast.

Down came the storm, and smote amain,25 The vessel in its strength; She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed, Then leaped her cable's length.

"Come hither! come hither! my little daughtèr, And do not tremble so;30 For I can weather the roughest gale, That ever wind did blow."

He wrapped her warm in his seaman's coat Against the stinging blast; He cut a rope from a broken spar,35 And bound her to the mast.

"O father! I hear the church-bells ring, O say, what may it be?" "'Tis a fog-bell on a rock-bound coast!"— And he steered for the open sea.40

"O father! I hear the sound of guns, O say, what may it be?" "Some ship in distress, that cannot live In such an angry sea!"

"O father! I see a gleaming light,45 O say, what may it be?" But the father answered never a word, A frozen corpse was he.

Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark, With his face turned to the skies,50 The lantern gleamed through the gleaming snow On his fixed and glassy eyes.

Then the maiden clasped her hands and prayed That savèd she might be; And she thought of Christ, who stilled the wave, On the Lake of Galilee.56

And fast through the midnight dark and drear, Through the whistling sleet and snow, Like a sheeted ghost, the vessel swept Towards the reef of Norman's Woe.60

And ever the fitful gusts between, A sound came from the land; It was the sound of the trampling surf, On the rocks and the hard sea-sand.

The breakers were right beneath her bows,65 She drifted a dreary wreck, And a whooping billow swept the crew Like icicles from her deck.

She struck where the white and fleecy waves Looked soft as carded wool,70 But the cruel rocks, they gored her side Like the horns of an angry bull.

Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice, With the masts went by the board; Like a vessel of glass, she stove and sank,75 Ho! ho! the breakers roared!

At daybreak on the bleak sea-beach, A fisherman stood aghast, To see the form of a maiden fair, Lashed close to a drifting mast.80

The salt-sea was frozen on her breast, The salt tears in her eyes; And he saw her hair, like the brown sea-weed, On the billows fall and rise.

Such was the wreck of the Hesperus,85 In the midnight and the snow! Christ save us all from a death like this, On the reef of Norman's Woe!

[PAUL REVERE'S RIDE]

Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,[308] On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year.5

He said to his friend, "If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church[309] tower as a signal light,— One, if by land, and two, if by sea;10 And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country-folk to be up and arm."

Then he said, "Good night!" and with muffled oar15 Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, Just as the moon rose over the bay, Where swinging wide at her moorings lay The Somerset, British man-of-war; A phantom ship, with each mast and spar20 Across the moon like a prison bar And a huge black hulk, that was magnified By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile his friend, through alley and street, Wanders and watches with eager ears,25 Till in the silence around him he hears The muster of men at the barrack door, The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, And the measured tread of the grenadiers, Marching down to their boats on the shore.30

Then he climbed to the tower of the church, Up the wooden stairs with stealthy tread, To the belfry-chamber overhead, And startled the pigeons from their perch On the sombre rafters, that round him made35 Masses and moving shapes of shade,— Up the trembling ladder, steep and tall, To the highest window in the wall, Where he paused to listen and look down A moment on the roofs of the town,40 And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead, In their night-encampment on the hill, Wrapped in silence so deep and still That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,45 The watchful night-wind, as it went Creeping along from tent to tent, And seeming to whisper, "All is well!" A moment only he feels the spell Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread50 Of the lonely belfry and the dead; For suddenly all his thoughts are bent On a shadowy something far away, Where the river widens to meet the bay,— A line of black that bends and floats55 On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. Now he patted his horse's side,60 Now gazed at the landscape far and near, Then impetuous, stamped the earth, And turned and tightened his saddle-girth; But mostly he watched with eager search The belfry-tower of the Old North Church,65 As it rose above the graves on the hill, Lonely and spectral and sombre and still. And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height A glimmer, and then a gleam of light! He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,70 But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns!

A hurry of hoofs in a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark75 Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet; That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night; And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat.80

He has left the village and mounted the steep, And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep, Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides; And under the alders, that skirt its edge, Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,85 Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

It was twelve by the village clock When he crossed the bridge into Medford[310] town. He heard the crowing of the cock, And the barking of the farmer's dog,90 And felt the damp of the river fog, That rises after the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock, When he galloped into Lexington. He saw the gilded weathercock95 Swim in the moonlight as he passed, And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare, Gaze at him with a spectral glare, As if they already stood aghast At the bloody work they would look upon.100

It was two by the village clock, When he came to the bridge in Concord[311] town. He heard the bleating of the flock, And the twitter of birds among the trees, And felt the breath of the morning breeze105 Blowing over the meadows brown. And one was safe and asleep in his bed Who at the bridge would be first to fall, Who that day would be lying dead, Pierced by a British musket-ball.110

You know the rest. In the books you have read, How the British Regulars fired and fled,— How the farmers gave them ball for ball, From behind each fence and farmyard wall, Chasing the red-coats down the lane,115 Then crossing the fields to emerge again Under the trees at the turn of the road, And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere; And so through the night went his cry of alarm120 To every Middlesex village and farm,— A cry of defiance and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo forevermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,125 Through all our history, to the last, In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed, And the midnight message of Paul Revere.130

[JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER]

SKIPPER IRESON'S RIDE

Of all the rides since the birth of time, Told in story or sung in rhyme,— On Apuleius's Golden Ass,[312] Or one-eyed Calender's horse of brass,[313] Witch astride of a human back,5 Islam's prophet on Al-Borák,[314]— The strangest ride that ever was sped Was Ireson's, out from Marblehead! Old Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart, Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart10 By the women of Marblehead!

Body of turkey, head of owl, Wings a-droop like a rained-on fowl, Feathered and ruffled in every part, Skipper Ireson stood in the cart.15 Scores of women, old and young, Strong of muscle, and glib of tongue, Pushed and pulled up the rocky lane, Shouting and singing the shrill refrain: "Here's Flud Oirson, fur his horrd horrt,20 Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt By the women o' Morble'ead!"

Wrinkled scolds with hands on hips, Girls in bloom of cheek and lips, Wild-eyed, free-limbed, such as chase25 Bacchus[315] round some antique vase, Brief of skirt, with ankles bare, Loose of kerchief and loose of hair, With conch-shells blowing and fish-horns' twang, Over and over the Mænads[316] sang:30 "Here's Flud Oirson, fur his horrd horrt, Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt By the women o' Morble'ead!"

Small pity for him!—He sailed away From a leaking ship in Chaleur Bay,[317]—35 Sailed away from a sinking wreck, With his own town's-people on her deck! "Lay by! lay by!" they called to him. Back he answered, "Sink or swim! Brag of your catch of fish again!"40 And off he sailed through the fog and rain! Old Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart, Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart By the women of Marblehead!

Fathoms deep in dark Chaleur45 That wreck shall lie forevermore. Mother and sister, wife and maid, Looked from the rocks of Marblehead Over the moaning and rainy sea,— Looked for the coming that might not be!50 What did the winds and the sea-birds say Of the cruel captain who sailed away?— Old Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart, Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart By the women of Marblehead!55

Through the street, on either side, Up flew windows, doors swung wide; Sharp-tongued spinsters, old wives gray, Treble lent the fish-horn's bray. Sea-worn grandsires, cripple-bound,60 Hulks of old sailors run aground, Shook head, and fist, and hat, and cane, And cracked with curses the hoarse refrain: "Here's Flud Oirson, fur his horrd horrt, Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt65 By the women o' Morble'ead!"

Sweetly along the Salem road Bloom of orchard and lilac showed. Little the wicked skipper knew Of the fields so green and the sky so blue.70 Riding there in his sorry trim, Like an Indian idol glum and grim, Scarcely he seemed the sound to hear Of voices shouting, far and near: "Here's Flud Oirson, fur his horrd horrt,75 Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt By the women o' Morble'ead!"

"Hear me, neighbors!" at last he cried,— "What to me is this noisy ride? What is the shame that clothes the skin80 To the nameless horror that lives within? Waking or sleeping, I see a wreck, And hear a cry from a reeling deck! Hate me and curse me,—I only dread The hand of God and the face of the dead!"85 Said old Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart, Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart By the women of Marblehead!

Then the wife of the skipper lost at sea Said, "God has touched him! why should we?"90 Said an old wife mourning her only son, "Cut the rogue's tether and let him run!" So with soft relentings and rude excuse, Half scorn, half pity, they cut him loose, And gave him a cloak to hide him in,95 And left him alone with his shame and sin. Poor Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart, Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart By the women of Marblehead!

[BARCLAY OF URY]

Up the streets of Aberdeen[318] By the kirk[319] and college green Rode the Laird[320] of Ury. Close behind him, close beside, Foul of mouth and evil-eyed,5 Pressed the mob in fury.

Flouted him the drunken churl, Jeered at him the serving-girl, Prompt to please her master; And the begging carlin,[321] late10 Fed and clothed at Ury's gate, Cursed him as he passed her.

Yet, with calm and stately mien, Up the streets of Aberdeen Came he slowly riding;15 And, to all he saw and heard, Answering not with bitter word, Turning not for chiding.

Came a troop with broadswords swinging, Bits and bridles sharply ringing,20 Loose and free and froward; Quoth the foremost, 'Ride him down! Push him! prick him! through the town Drive the Quaker coward!'

But from out the thickening crowd25 Cried a sudden voice and loud: 'Barclay! Ho! a Barclay!' And the old man at his side Saw a comrade, battle tried, Scarred and sunburned darkly,30

Who with ready weapon bare, Fronting to the troopers there, Cried aloud: 'God save us, Call ye coward him who stood Ankle deep in Lützen's[322] blood,35 With the brave Gustavus?'

'Nay, I do not need thy sword, Comrade mine,' said Ury's lord; 'Put it up, I pray thee: Passive to his holy will,40 Trust I in my Master still, Even though He slay me.

'Pledges of thy love and faith, Proved on many a field of death, Not by me are needed.'45 Marvelled much that henchman bold, That his laird, so stout of old, Now so meekly pleaded.

'Woe's the day!' he sadly said, With a slowly shaking head,50 And a look of pity; 'Ury's honest lord reviled, Mock of knave and sport of child, In his own good city!

'Speak the word, and, master mine,55 As we charged on Tilly's[323] line, And his Walloon[324] lancers, Smiting through their midst we'll teach Civil look and decent speech To these boyish prancers!'60

'Marvel not, mine ancient friend, Like beginning, like the end,' Quoth the Laird of Ury; 'Is the sinful servant more Than his gracious Lord who bore65 Bonds and stripes in Jewry?

'Give me joy that in his name I can bear, with patient frame, All these vain ones offer; While for them He suffereth long,70 Shall I answer wrong with wrong, Scoffing with the scoffer?

'Happier I, with loss of all, Hunted, outlawed, held in thrall, With few friends to greet me,75 Than when reeve and squire were seen, Riding out from Aberdeen, With bared heads to meet me.

'When each goodwife, o'er and o'er, Blessed me as I passed her door;80 And the snooded[325] daughter, Through her casement glancing down, Smiled on him who bore renown From red fields of slaughter.

'Hard to feel the stranger's scoff,85 Hard the old friend's falling off, Hard to learn forgiving; But the Lord his own rewards, And his love with theirs accords, Warm and fresh and living.90

'Through this dark and stormy night Faith beholds a feeble light Up the blackness streaking; Knowing God's own time is best, In a patient hope I rest95 For the full day-breaking!'

So the Laird of Ury said, Turning slow his horse's head Towards the Tolbooth[326] prison, Where, through iron gates, he heard100 Poor disciples of the Word Preach of Christ arisen!

Not in vain, Confessor old, Unto us the tale is told Of thy day of trial;105 Every age on him who strays From its broad and beaten ways Pours its seven-fold vial.

Happy he whose inward ear, Angel comfortings can hear,110 O'er the rabble's laughter; And while Hatred's fagots burn, Glimpses through the smoke discern Of the good hereafter.

Knowing this, that never yet115 Share of Truth was vainly set In the world's wide fallow[327]; After hands shall sow the seed, After hands from hill and mead Reap the harvests yellow.120

Thus, with somewhat of the Seer, Must the moral pioneer From the Future borrow; Clothe the waste with dreams of grain, And, on midnight's sky of rain,125 Paint the golden morrow!

[BARBARA FRIETCHIE]

Up from the meadows rich with corn, Clear in the cool September morn,

The clustered spires of Frederick stand Green-walled by the hills of Maryland.

Round about them orchards sweep,5 Apple and peach tree fruited deep,

Fair as the garden of the Lord To the eyes of the famished rebel horde,

On that pleasant morn of the early fall When Lee marched over the mountain-wall;10

Over the mountains winding down, Horse and foot, into Frederick town.

Forty flags with their silver stars, Forty flags with their crimson bars,

Flapped in the morning wind: the sun15 Of noon looked down, and saw not one.

Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then, Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;

Bravest of all in Frederick town, She took up the flag the men hauled down;20

In her attic window the staff she set, To show that one heart was loyal yet.

Up the street came the rebel tread, Stonewall Jackson riding ahead.

Under his slouched hat left and right25 He glanced; the old flag met his sight.

'Halt!'—the dust-brown ranks stood fast. 'Fire!'—out blazed the rifle-blast.

It shivered the window, pane and sash; It rent the banner with seam and gash.30

Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf.

She leaned far out on the window-sill, And shook it forth with a royal will.

'Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,35 But spare your country's flag,' she said.

A shade of sadness, a blush of shame, Over the face of the leader came;

The nobler nature within him stirred To life at that woman's deed and word;40

'Who touches a hair of yon gray head Dies like a dog! March on!' he said.

All day long through Frederick street Sounded the tread of marching feet:

All day long that free flag tost45 Over the heads of the rebel host.

Ever its torn folds rose and fell On the loyal winds that loved it well;

And through the hill-gaps sunset light Shone over it with a warm good-night.50

Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er, And the Rebel rides on his raids no more.

Honor to her! and let a tear Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier.

Over Barbara Frietchie's grave,55 Flag of Freedom and Union, wave!

Peace and order and beauty draw Round thy symbol of light and law;

And ever the stars above look down On thy stars below in Frederick town!60

[OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES]

GRANDMOTHER'S STORY OF BUNKER HILL BATTLE

As she saw it from the belfry

'Tis like stirring living embers when, at eighty, one remembers All the achings and the quakings of "the times that tried men's souls [328];" When I talk of Whig and Tory,[329] when I tell the Rebel story, To you the words are ashes, but to me they're burning coals.

I had heard the muskets' rattle of the April running battle[330];5 Lord Percy's hunted soldiers, I can see their red coats still; But a deadly chill comes o'er me, as the day looms up before me, When a thousand men lay bleeding on the slopes of Bunker's Hill.

'Twas a peaceful summer's morning, when the first thing gave us warning. Was the booming of the cannon from the river and the shore:10 "Child," says grandma, "what's the matter, what is all this noise and clatter? Have those scalping Indian devils come to murder us once more?"

Poor old soul! my sides were shaking in the midst of all my quaking, To hear her talk of Indians when the guns began to roar: She had seen the burning village, and the slaughter and the pillage,15 When the Mohawks[331] killed her father with their bullets through his door.

Then I said, "Now, dear old granny, don't you fret and worry any, For I'll soon come back and tell you whether this is work or play; There can't be mischief in it, so I won't be gone a minute"— For a minute then I started. I was gone the livelong day.20

No time for bodice-lacing or for looking-glass grimacing; Down my hair went as I hurried, tumbling half-way to my heels; God forbid your ever knowing, when there's blood around her flowing, How the lonely, helpless daughter of a quiet household feels!

In the street I heard a thumping; and I knew it was the stumping25 Of the Corporal, our old neighbor, on the wooden leg he wore, With a knot of women round him,—it was lucky I had found him, So I followed with the others, and the Corporal marched before.

They were making for the steeple,—the old soldier and his people; The pigeons circled round us as we climbed the creaking stair,30 Just across the narrow river—Oh, so close it made me shiver!— Stood a fortress on the hill-top that but yesterday was bare.

Not slow our eyes to find it; well we knew who stood behind it, Though the earthwork hid them from us, and the stubborn walls were dumb: Here were sister, wife, and mother, looking wild upon each other,35 And their lips were white with terror as they said,  The Hour Has Come!

The morning slowly wasted, not a morsel had we tasted, And our heads were almost splitting with the cannons' deafening thrill, When a figure tall and stately round the rampart strode sedately; It was Prescott, one since told me; he commanded on the hill.40

Every woman's heart grew bigger when we saw his manly figure, With the banyan[332] buckled round it, standing up so straight and tall; Like a gentleman of leisure who is strolling out for pleasure, Through the storm of shells and cannon-shot he walked around the wall.

At eleven the streets were swarming, for the red-coats' ranks were forming;45 At noon in marching order they were moving to the piers; How the bayonets gleamed and glistened, as we looked far down, and listened To the trampling and the drum-beat of the belted grenadiers!

At length the men have started, with a cheer (it seemed faint-hearted), In their scarlet regimentals, with their knapsacks on their backs,50 And the reddening, rippling water, as after a sea-fight's slaughter, Round the barges gliding onward blushed like blood along their tracks.

So they crossed to the other border, and again they formed in order; And the boats came back for soldiers, came for soldiers, soldiers still: The time seemed everlasting to us women faint and fasting,—55 At last they're moving, marching, marching proudly up the hill.

We can see the bright steel glancing all along the lines advancing— Now the front rank fires a volley—they have thrown away their shot; For behind their earthwork lying, all the balls above them flying, Our people need not hurry; so they wait and answer not.60

Then the Corporal, our old cripple (he would swear sometimes and tipple),— He had heard the bullets whistle (in the old French war) before,— Calls out in words of jeering, just as if they all were hearing,— And his wooden leg thumps fiercely on the dusty belfry floor:—

"Oh! fire away, ye villains, and earn King George's shillin's,65 But ye'll waste a ton of powder afore a 'rebel' falls; You may bang the dirt and welcome, they're as safe as Dan'l Malcolm[333] Ten foot beneath the gravestone that you've splintered with your balls!"

In the hush of expectation, in the awe and trepidation Of the dread approaching moment, we are well-nigh breathless all;70 Though the rotten bars are failing on the rickety belfry railing, We are crowding up against them like the waves against a wall.

Just a glimpse (the air is clearer), they are nearer,—nearer,—nearer, When a flash—a curling smoke-wreath—then a crash—the steeple shakes— The deadly truce is ended; the tempest's shroud is rended;75 Like a morning mist is gathered, like a thunder-cloud it breaks!

O the sight our eyes discover as the blue-black smoke blows over! The red-coats stretched in windrows as a mower rakes his hay; Here a scarlet heap is lying, there a headlong crowd is flying Like a billow that has broken and is shivered into spray.80

Then we cried, "The troops are routed! they are beat—it can't be doubted! God be thanked, the fight is over!"—Ah! the grim old soldier's smile! "Tell us, tell us why you look so?" (we could hardly speak we shook so),— "Are they beaten? Are they beaten? Are they beaten?"—"Wait a while."

O the trembling and the terror! for too soon we saw our error:85 They are baffled, not defeated; we have driven them back in vain; And the columns that were scattered, round the colors that were tattered, Toward the sullen silent fortress turn their belted breasts again.

All at once, as we were gazing, lo! the roofs of Charlestown blazing! They have fired the harmless village; in an hour it will be down!90 The Lord in Heaven confound them, rain his fire and brimstone round them,— The robbing, murdering red-coats, that would burn a peaceful town!

They are marching, stern and solemn; we can see each massive column As they near the naked earth-mound with the slanting walls so steep. Have our soldiers got faint-hearted, and in noiseless haste departed?95 Are they panic-struck and helpless? Are they palsied or asleep?

Now! the walls they're almost under! scarce a rod the foes asunder! Not a firelock flashed against them! up the earthwork they will swarm! But the words have scarce been spoken when the ominous calm is broken, And a bellowing crash has emptied all the vengeance of the storm!100

So again, with murderous slaughter, pelted backwards to the water, Fly Pigot's running heroes and the frightened braves of Howe; And we shout, "At last they're done for, it's their barges they have run for: They are beaten, beaten, beaten; and the battle's over now!"

And we looked, poor timid creatures, on the rough old soldier's features,105 Our lips afraid to question, but he knew what we would ask: "Not sure," he said; "keep quiet,—once more, I guess, they'll try it— Here's damnation to the cut-throats!" then he handed me his flask,

Saying, "Gal, you're looking shaky; have a drop of Old Jamaiky; I'm afeared there'll be more trouble afore the job is done;"110 So I took one scorching swallow; dreadful faint I felt and hollow, Standing there from early morning when the firing was begun.

All through those hours of trial I had watched a calm clock dial, As the hands kept creeping, creeping,—they were creeping round to four, When the old man said, "They're forming with their bayonets fixed for storming:115 It's the death-grip that's a-coming,—they will try the works once more."

With brazen trumpets blaring, the flames behind them glaring, The deadly wall before them, in close array they come; Still onward, upward toiling, like a dragon's fold uncoiling,— Like the rattlesnake's shrill warning the reverberating drum!120

Over heaps all torn and gory—shall I tell the fearful story, How they surged above the breastwork, as a sea breaks over a deck; How, driven, yet scarce defeated, our worn-out men retreated, With their powder-horns all emptied, like the swimmers from a wreck?

It has all been told and painted; as for me, they say I fainted,125 And the wooden-legged old Corporal stumped with me down the stair: When I woke from dreams affrighted the evening lamps were lighted,— On the floor a youth was lying; his bleeding breast was bare.

And I heard through all the flurry, "Send for Warren! hurry! hurry! Tell him here's a soldier bleeding, and he'll come and dress his wound!"130 Ah, we knew not till the morrow told its tale of death and sorrow, How the starlight found him stiffened on the dark and bloody ground.

Who the youth was, what his name was, where the place from which he came was, Who had brought him from the battle, and had left him at our door, He could not speak to tell us; but 'twas one of our brave fellows,135 As the homespun plainly showed us which the dying soldier wore.

For they all thought he was dying, as they gathered round him crying,— And they said, "Oh, how they'll miss him!" and, "What will his mother do?" Then, his eyelids just unclosing like a child's that has been dozing, He faintly murmured, "Mother!"—and—I saw his eyes were blue.140

—"Why, grandma, how you're winking!"—Ah, my child, it sets me thinking Of a story not like this one. Well, he somehow lived along; So we came to know each other, and I nursed him like a—mother, Till at last he stood before me, tall, and rosy-cheeked, and strong.

And we sometimes walked together in the pleasant summer weather;145 —"Please to tell us what his name was?"—Just your own, my little dear. There's his picture Copley[334] painted: we became so well acquainted, That,—in short, that's why I'm grandma, and you children are all here!"

[NOTES]

[WILLIAM COWPER]

William Cowper was born at Great Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, England, in 1731. He was educated first at a private school and afterwards at Westminster in London. He studied law, but his progress in the profession was blocked because of an attack of insanity brought on in 1763 by nervousness over an oral examination for a clerkship in the House of Commons. After fifteen months he recovered and went to live at Huntingdon, where he met the Unwin family and began what was to be a lifelong friendship with Mrs. Unwin. Upon Mr. Unwin's death in 1767, Cowper moved with Mrs. Unwin to Olney, passing a secluded life there until 1786. In 1773 he suffered a second attack of melancholia, which lasted sixteen months. Soon after his recovery he coöperated with the Rev. John Newton in writing the well-known Olney Hymns (1779). In 1782 he published his first volume of poems, and a second volume followed in 1785, containing The Task, Tirocinium, and the ballad of John Gilpin. A translation of Homer was completed in 1791. After 1791 his reason became hopelessly deranged, and he passed the time until his death in 1800 in utter misery.

Cowper was a man of kind and gentle character, a lover of nature in her milder aspects, and especially fond of animals. As one of the forerunners of the so-called Romantic movement in English poetry, his name is significant. Though at his best in work of a descriptive or satiric kind, he was also gifted with a subtle humor which appears frequently in many short tales and ballads. A good biography of Cowper is that by Goldwin Smith in the English Men of Letters Series.

The Diverting History of John Gilpin [(Page 1)]

The story of John Gilpin was told to Cowper by his friend, Lady Austen, who had heard it when a child. The poet, upon whom the tale made a deep impression, eventually turned it into this ballad, which was first published anonymously in the Public Advertiser for November 14, 1782. It became popular at once, and is to-day probably the most widely known of the author's works. It is written in the conventional ballad metre, and preserves many expressions characteristic of the primitive English ballad style.

[ [1] 3. Eke; also.

[ [2] 11. Edmonton is a suburb a few miles directly north of London.