s: In the second part of the thirteenth century artificiality and


s: Walther von der Vogelweide. The poem is divided into thirty-nine


s: A dream was dreamt by Kriemhild the virtuous and the gay,


s: How a wild young falcon she train'd for many a day,


s: Till two fierce eagles tore it; to her there could not be


s: In all the world such sorrow as this perforce to see.


s: The gorgeous feast it lasted till the seventh day was o'er;


s: Siegelind the wealthy did as they did of yore;


s: She won for valiant Siegfried the hearts of young and old


s: When for his sake among them she shower'd the ruddy gold.


s: prisoner monarchs in his train. The messenger who announces


s: _5th Adventure._ After describing the tournament held at Worms in


s: Now went she forth, the loveliest, as forth the morning goes


s: From misty clouds out-beaming; then all his weary woes


s: Left him, in heart who bore her, and so, long time, had done.


s: He saw there stately standing the fair, the peerless one.


s: _7th Adventure._ Gazing out of her window, Brunhild perceives the


s: Gunther's stirrup when they land, and to learn it is the king of


s: "He must cast the stone beyond me, and after it must leap,


s: Then with me shoot the javelin; too quick a pace you keep;


s: Stop and awhile consider, and reckon well the cost,"


s: The warrioress made answer, "ere life and fame be lost."


s: Said he, "Off with the buckler and give it me to bear,


s: Now, what I shall advise thee, mark with thy closest care.


s: Be it thine to make the gestures, and mine the work to do."


s: Glad man was then king Gunther, when he his helpmate knew.


s: Said he, "Nay, gentle Siegfried, do but this journey take,


s: Not for my sake only, but for my sister's sake.


s: You'll oblige fair Kriemhild in this as well as me."


s: When so implor'd was Siegfried, ready at once was he.


s: _10th Adventure._ Not only does Siegfried receive the fair lady's


s: acknowledges herself beaten. Although fancying she is yielding to


s: leaving Gunther to reap the benefit of his victory, for Brunhild,


s: None urged the matter further, except that Hagen still


s: Kept ever prompting Gunther the guiltless blood to spill;


s: Saying, that, if Siegfried perish'd, his death to him would bring


s: _15th Adventure._ A cunning plan is now devised by Hagen whereby


s: "So now I'll tell the secret, dear friend, alone to thee


s: (For thou, I doubt not, cousin, will keep thy faith with me),


s: Where sword may pierce my darling, and death sit on the thrust,


s: See, in thy truth and honor how full, how firm my trust!"


s: quenching his thirst. But, when he, in his turn, stoops over the


s: E'en to the death though wounded, he hurl'd it with such power


s: That the whirling buckler scatter'd wide a shower


s: Full gladly had the warrior ta'en vengeance with that stroke.


s: villainy while following the body back to Worms.


s: It is a mighty marvel, which oft e'en now we spy,


s: That, when the blood-stain'd murderer comes to the murder'd nigh,


s: And thus could each beholder the guilt of Hagen tell.


s: Meanwhile sat misproud Brunhild in haughtiness uncheck'd;


s: Of Kriemhild's tears and sorrows her it nothing reck'd.


s: She pitied not the mourner; she stoop'd not to the low.


s: Soon Kriemhild took full vengeance, and woe repaid with woe.


s: proposal, but Hagen rejoins that should she secure such powerful


s: Then swore to her Sir Rudiger and all his knightly train


s: To serve her ever truly, and all her rights maintain,


s: Nor e'er of her due honors scant her in Etzel's land.


s: Thereto gave the good margrave th' assurance of his hand.


s: Then thought the faithful mourner, "with such a host of friends


s: Now the poor lonely widow may work her secret ends,


s: Nor care for what reflections the world on her may cast.


s: What if my lost beloved I may revenge at last?"


s: retains, Kriemhild starts out for Hungary.


s: That you perforce may perish in Etzel's bloody land.


s: Whoever rideth thither, Death has he close at hand."


s: _25th Adventure._ Dismissed with the old queen's blessing, the


s: Then had the bride and bridegroom within a ring to stand,


s: For such was then the custom; a merry stripling band


s: Encircled the fair couple, and gaz'd on them their fill,


s: And thought the while as idly as think young people still.


s: This ceremony over, Rudiger prepares to guide the Burgundians to


s: _28th Adventure._ So patent are Kriemhild's evil intentions, that


s: _29th Adventure._ Although the three royal brothers accompany


s: "Tell me now, friend Volker, will you stand me by,


s: If these men of Kriemhild's would my mettle try?


s: Show me, if you love me, faithful friend and true!


s: And when you need my service I'll do as much for you."


s: inoffensive, unsuspicious old man--cordially bids them welcome.


s: "Be stirring, brother Hagen, you're sitting all too long.


s: To you and God in heaven our deadly strait I plain;


s: Yeomen and knights together lie in their quarters slain."


s: 'Twas well for the Burgundians that vaulted was the roof;


s: This was, in all their danger, the more to their behoof.


s: Only about the windows from fire they suffer'd sore.


s: _37th Adventure._ Having failed in this third attempt, Kriemhild


s: _38th Adventure._ A new batch of corpses having been flung down


s: stairs, such a lament arises among the Huns that Dietrich of Bern


s: "Fair and noble Kriemhild," thus Sir Dietrich spake,


s: "Spare this captive warrior who full amends will make


s: For all his past transgressions; him here in bonds you see;


s: Revenge not on the fetter'd th' offences of the free."


s: statement, Kriemhild, whose cruelty now knows no bounds, orders


s: Gunther--her last brother--slain, and herself carries his head to


s: Hildebrand the aged, fierce on Kriemhild sprung;


s: To the death he smote her as his sword he swung.


s: Sudden and remorseless he his wrath did wreak.


s: What could then avail her her fearful thrilling shriek!


s: It is, therefore, in the presence of her corpse that Dietrich and


s: "'Tis more than I can tell you what afterward befell,


s: Save that there was weeping for friends belov'd so well


s: Knights and squires, dames and damsels, were seen lamenting all.


s: So here I end my story. This is the Nibelungers' Fall."


s: principal Holy Grail legends will be given here. Although all the


s: enchanter Merlin would in time make a similar table, where a


s: descendant of Brons would have the honor of occupying this "Siege


s: Spain,--whither he was safely led by a guiding cloud.


s: thither by miraculous means--erected a marvellous temple, whose


s: Parzival now left his mother,--who died of grief,--went to court


s: (meeting sundry adventures on the way), and there asked to be


s: knighted. He was told, however, he must first procure a horse and


s: unveiled it, uttering the while heart-rending groans.


s: unconscious fault. Once more he arrived at the castle, once more


s: Another legend claims that his son Lohengrin, ordered by the Holy


s: The versions of the Holy Grail Story of which Galahad is hero run


s: The young champion, thus completely equipped, rode off and next


s: arrived at the enchanted Castle of the Holy Grail. There he saw


s: wanting, solemnly vowed to return to the castle and atone for his


s: But meantime the enchanted Castle had vanished, and Galahad, the


s: Champion of Purity,--whose red color he always wears,--travelled


s: Once more Galahad rides through the world, and this time he again


s: priceless treasure away from the Enchanted Castle, where it is no


s: present home of the Holy Grail, which had already sojourned there


s: Galahad and his companions Sir Percival and Sir Bors. They two,


s: however, not being perfectly pure, cannot clearly distinguish the


s: Galahad can hang up his sword and shield and take his well-earned


s: unanimously elect Galahad their next ruler.


s: When he died, the Holy Grail, which had been piously guarded in


s: Having heard the depositions of the Wolf, the Dog, the Cat, the


s: His woful report decides the king to send Grimbart the Badger to


s: summon his nephew to court. Reynard receives this emissary most


s: In some versions of the tale Reynard further avenges himself by


s: The different Scandinavian dialects formed but one language until


s: partly historical and partly mythical themes, which were composed


s: geographical isolation and to the long winters, these people were


s: eleventh-century collection of thirty-three poems on mythical and


s: Many of the old sagas have been preserved in more or less perfect


s: including sagas on historical themes, such as the Egilssaga, the


s: Eyrbyggjasaga, the Njalssaga, the Laxdaelasaga, and the already


s: finest saga in this group is the Gunnlaugssaga.


s: Norway also possesses a rich fund of folk tales, which have been


s: "Now let the man among you whose heart and hand may shift


s: To pluck it from the oak-wood e'en take it for my gift.


s: Although conscious that Odin had been in their midst, Volsung


s: although Signy loyally warned her kinsmen that her husband was


s: devoured one of these helpless men. Closely watched by her cruel


s: When Siggier sent to investigate as usual the next morning, his


s: With a youthful helper whom nothing could daunt, Sigmund, after


s: And then King Siggier's roof-tree upheaved for its utmost fall,


s: A sign for many people on the land of the Goths it lay,


s: "For men a curse thou bearest: entangled in my gold,


s: Two brethren and a father, eight kings my grief shall slay;


s: And the hearts of queens shall be broken, and their eyes shall


s: Lo, how the wilderness blossoms! Lo, how the lonely lands


s: Are waving with the harvest that fell from my gathering hands!"


s: Scorning this prediction, Loki hastened to the rescue of his


s: serpent ring of gold, to cover it and thus complete the required


s: Properly mounted and armed, Sigurd was guided by Regin to the


s: This advice being too pertinent to be scorned, Sigurd faithfully


s: Then he set the ring on her finger and once, if ne'er again,


s: Should remember not his longing, should cast his love away,


s: Remembering dead desire but as night remembereth day."


s: No sooner has this potion been quaffed than our hero, utterly


s: Meantime, although Gunnar had secured the wife he coveted, he was


s: "I pray thee a prayer, the last word in the world I speak,


s: That ye bear me forth to Sigurd and the hand my hand would seek;


s: But ere ye leave us sleeping, draw his Wrath from out the sheath,


s: When once in one bed together we twain were laid alone:


s: How then when the flames flare upward may I be left behind?


s: How then may the road he wendeth be hard for my feet to find?


s: "Thou all-rich King of the Eastlands, e'en such a man might I be


s: That I might utter a word, and the heart should be glad in thee,


s: And I should live and be sorry: for I, I only am left


s: Ye have heard of Sigurd aforetime, how the foes of God he slew;


s: Ye have heard of the Cloudy People, and the dimming of the day,


s: And the latter world's confusion, and Sigurd gone away;


s: therefore from Russian antiquity and from popular legends.


s: Novgorod, and a third belonging to the later Moscow period. The


s: principal hero of many of the Russian folk tales, and of the epic


s: The proem then invites all people to listen to legends of by-gone


s: _Rune II._ After living alone for some time on this promontory or


s: collected by a Northland maiden to make enchanted arrows for a


s: magician, and the soil it overshadowed immediately began to bear


s: directions in the main, Wainamoinen allowed the birch to stand,


s: declaring there must be some place where the cuckoo and the eagle


s: challenge the "ancient minstrel" to a singing contest. In vain


s: The defeated bard now returns to Lapland, and on arriving there


s: Although decked in these magnificent adornments, the girl wanders


s: attractions for her and she is not anxious to become an old man's


s: _Rune V._ The news of Aino's death travels swiftly southward, and


s: insists her son has merely brought woe upon the earth.


s: _Rune X and XI._ Wainamoinen now hastens back to Kalevala and


s: The sorceress is so pleased with the Sampo--by means of which she


s: _Runes XIII and XIV._ Lemminkainen now asks Louhi for her second


s: _Rune XV._ After vainly awaiting Lemminkainen's return, his aged


s: Hastening back to the blacksmith Ilmarinen, the frantic mother


s: accidentally falls into the huge maw and is swallowed alive. But,


s: colossus, thus causing him such keen discomfort that the monster


s: serpent-field of Hades, bring back from that place the Tuoni-bear


s: _Rune XXV._ The bride and bridegroom are next warmly welcomed by


s: _Rune XXVI._ Meanwhile Lemminkainen, angry because he alone has


s: proved neglectful toward one of them, a spinster, who curses him,


s: _Runes XXXI, XXXII, and XXXIII._ During this time a slave,


s: Sprinkle all these fields with tear-drops,


s: watch-dog--the only living creature left him. During this strange


s: All the beasts that haunt the woodlands,


s: Wainamoinen starts out in quest of sun and moon, and, by changing


s: multitude of snakes. Although Wainamoinen slays these keepers, he


s: Straightway seeks her babe in Swamp-land,


s: The poem concludes with an epilogue, wherein the bard declares it


s: No political division boasts of a greater mixture of races and


s: languages than the Austro-Hungarian empire, whose literature is


s: Milutinovitch wrote a Servian epic, while Mazuranie and Bogovitch


s: servant before his assembled council as a perfect man. "The


s: Adversary," Satan, now dramatically presents himself, and, when


s: Unaware of the Heavenly council or of the fact that he is being


s: "The long caravan marches across the monotonous deserts, when the


s: The most ancient pre-Islamic poems were written in golden ink,


s: suspended in the Kaaba at Mecca, and are known in Arabia as the


s: Throughout the East, professional story-tellers still spend their


s: massacres. The eldest, who becomes the king's wife, begs that her


s: Arabic also boasts a romance of chivalry entitled "Romance of


s: We know that Persian monarchs made sundry attempts to collect the


s: Having accomplished all these wonderful things, Jemshid became so


s: Zohak, "the Serpent King," as he is now invariably called, was


s: purpose during the next thousand years, the realm was sorely


s: The serpents still on human brains were fed,


s: And every day two youthful victims bled;


s: The sword, still ready, thirsting still to strike,


s: Warrior and slave were sacrificed alike.


s: dragons, the second advanced recklessly, without thinking of


s: "No human being of this earth could give to such a monster birth,


s: It was only when Zal was about eight years old that his father


s: suddenly realized he had committed a deadly sin, and was


s: "Having watched thee with fondness by day and by night,


s: And supplied all thy wants with a mother's delight,


s: Oh, forget not thy nurse--still be faithful to me,


s: And my heart will be ever devoted to thee."


s: The royal parents, on discovering these clandestine meetings,


s: Loud neighed the steeds, and their resounding hoofs


s: Shook the deep caverns of the earth; the dust


s: Rose up in clouds and hid the azure heavens.--


s: Bright beamed the swords, and in that carnage wide,


s: satisfied with the extent of his realm, undertook to conquer


s: On hearing his master propose such a conquest, Zal vainly


s: remonstrated, but the foolish monarch set out, and on arriving in


s: But, though thy bold heart knows no fear,


s: In front of this cave Rustem found an array of demons, and, after


s: Having thus earned the title of "champion of the world," Rustem


s: For a mighty warrior, the pride of his day


s: In the course of this war young Sorab met with many adventures,


s: challenged the Persians to a single fight, for he was anxious to


s: "Come then, hear now, and grant me what I ask.


s: Will challenge forth the bravest Persian lords


s: Old man, the dead need no one, claim no kin.


s: Where host meets host, and many names are sunk;


s: But of a single combat fame speaks clear."


s: premonition that this was Rustem. The father, too, seized by a


s: And then he turned and sternly spake aloud,--


s: "Rise! wherefore dost thou vainly question thus


s: Of Rustum? I am here whom thou hast called


s: By challenge forth; make good thy vaunt, or yield!


s: Is it with Rustum only thou wouldst fight?


s: Rash boy, men look on Rustum's face, and flee!


s: For well I know, that did great Rustum stand


s: Before thy face this day, and were revealed,


s: There would be then no talk of fighting more."


s: He spoke; and Sohrab kindled at his taunts,


s: And he too drew his sword; at once they rushed


s: Come rushing down together from the clouds,


s: One from the east, one from the west; their skulls


s: Rose, such as that the sinewy woodcutters


s: Make often in the forest's heart at morn,


s: Of hewing axes, crashing trees,--such blows


s: "But that belovèd name unnerved my arm,--


s: That name, and something, I confess, in thee,


s: Which troubles all my heart, and made my shield


s: Fall; and thy spear transfixed an unarmed foe.


s: And now thou boastest, and insult'st my fate.


s: But hear thou this, fierce man, tremble to hear:


s: The mighty Rustum shall avenge my death!


s: My father, whom I seek through all the world,


s: He shall avenge my death, and punish thee!"


s: It was that griffin which of old reared Zal,


s: Rustum's great father, whom they left to die,


s: Him that kind creature found, and reared, and loved;


s: Then Rustum took it for his glorious sign.


s: Not only did broken-hearted Rustem hang over his dying son in


s: speechless grief, but the steed Rakush wept bitter tears over the


s: When they saw Rustum's grief; and Ruksh, the horse,


s: With his head bowing to the ground, and mane


s: Sweeping the dust, came near, and in mute woe


s: First to the one, then to the other, moved


s: His head, as if inquiring what their grief


s: Might mean; and from his dark compassionate eyes,


s: The big warm tears rolled down and caked the sand.


s: Not daring to remain at his father's court, this young prince


s: Kai-Khosrau, who, duly instructed by his protector, returned such


s: This young prince, having attained manhood, led a rebellion so


s: The spot which proved Kai-Khosrau's grave.


s: moment came. Thanks to their aid and to the fact that he began by


s: Shah-Nameh are from Champeon's translation.]


s: "Praise to Válmikí, bird of charming song,


s: And sweetly sings with accents clear and strong


s: The poem opens with a description of the ancient city of Ayodhya


s: Twelve measured leagues from end to end;


s: extended over a period of nine thousand years,--during which his


s: people had enjoyed such prosperity that it is known as the Age of


s: At Brahma's request, Vishnu not only consented to become man, but


s: These four princes grew up in the most promising fashion, Rama in


s: The wedding of Rama and Sita was honored by the presence of both


s: viceroy in his brother's stead. In vain the old king pleaded; the


s: "With thee is heaven, where'er the spot;


s: "Then in the dusk I heard the sound of gurgling water;


s: Was heard, and a poor hermit's son fell pierced and bleeding in


s: Before dying this lad implored his slayer to hasten back to the


s: The Indian poet now favors us with a wonderful description of the


s: The exiles, wandering thus in single file, finally arrived at


s: coming for some affectionate purpose. Greeting Bharata kindly,


s: Meantime life in the hermitage continues its peaceful course, the


s: One of the female demons finally becomes so anxious to win Rama's


s: description of her matchless charms has fired his imagination.


s: Drooped fainting round the lovely bower.


s: In spite of the fact that she has already been some time in the


s: "My cooks shall mince thy limbs with steel


s: When Sita is left alone, Hanuman, in the guise of a tiny monkey,


s: unsurmountable obstacle between them and their goal. In answer to


s: Although many of Rama's adherents have perished in battle, he now


s: "Champion of gods, well done, well done."


s: enter a fierce fire, whence the god of the flames bears her out


s: unharmed, and restores her to her husband, declaring that, as her


s: Twenty years have passed since Rama repudiated his wife, when he


s: With all his kin the heavens shall gain.


s: degrees and at the end of several centuries.


s: Bharata, the real founder of the principal Indian dynasty, is so


s: famous a character, that the Hindus often designate their whole


s: clandestine marriage. But, after a short time, the bridegroom


s: departed, leaving his bride a ring as a pledge of his troth.


s: declared this curse would be annulled when her husband beheld his


s: Sakuntala, whom he discovered in the jungle, watching her boy


s: To comfort himself for the loss of his first wife, the king now


s: step-brother to marry, Bhishma sent him to a Bride's Choice


s: Neither of these youths being deemed perfect enough to represent


s: properly the royal race, Vyasa announced he would pay the widows


s: With these the monarch withdrew to the Himalayas to spend his


s: bucklers, closely watched by Drona, who pronounced his favorite


s: Arjuna, the third Pandav, the finest athlete ever seen.


s: Mighty sword and ample buckler, ponderous mace the princes wield,


s: With ponderous mace they waged the daring fight.


s: As for a tender mate two rival elephants


s: Encountered, and amidst the rapid sphere


s: Of fire their whirling weapons clashing wove


s: Their persons vanished from the anxious eye.


s: Still more and more incensed their combat grew,


s: And life hung doubtful on the desperate conflict;


s: With awe the crowd beheld the fierce encounter


s: And amidst hope and fear suspended tossed,


s: Human mother never bore her, human bosom never fed,


s: From the altar sprang the maiden who some prince will wed!


s: withdraw, but a few determined to risk all in hopes of obtaining


s: He grasped the ponderous weapon in his hand


s: And with one vigorous effort braced the string.


s: Quickly the shafts were aimed and swiftly they flew;


s: The mark fell pierced; a shout of victory


s: Rang through the vast arena; from the sky


s: Garlands of flowers crowned the hero's head,


s: Ten thousand fluttering scarfs waved in the air,


s: And drum and trumpet sounded forth his triumph.


s: possession of the fair Draupadi, and publicly stripped her of her


s: Meantime his four brothers and Draupadi had undertaken pious


s: The sons of Pandu marked the coming storm


s: And swift arrayed their force. The chief divine


s: Raised in the van the ape-emblazoned banner,


s: The host's conducting star, the guiding light


s: That cheered the bravest heart, and as it swept


s: The air, it warmed each breast with martial fires.


s: Throughout the war the Pandav forces were directed by the same


s: general, but their opponents had four. A moment after the first


s: And angry lightnings flashed across the gloom,


s: Or blazing meteors fearful shot to earth.


s: Regardless of these awful signs, the chiefs


s: Pressed on to mutual slaughter, and the peal


s: Of shouting hosts commingling shook the world.


s: Darker grew the gloomy midnight, and the princes went their way;


s: On his bed of pointed arrows, Bhishma lone and dying lay.


s: Said Yudhishthir: "Lordly tusker, Aswathaman named, is dead;"


s: The poor father, who heard only a small part of the sentence--the


s: Although the fighting had hitherto invariably ceased at sunset,


s: darkness on the seventeenth day failed to check the fury of the


s: Pious rites are due to foemen and to friends and kinsmen slain,


s: Then, no one being there to dispute it, he took possession of the


s: Wishing to govern wisely, the eldest Pandav sought the wounded


s: general, Bhishma,--who still lay on his arrowy bed in the


s: The new king's mind was, however, so continually haunted by the


s: horrors of the great battle-field that, hoping to find relief, he


s: Victor of a hundred battles, Arjun bent his homeward way,


s: Following still the sacred charger free to wander as it may,


s: Strolling minstrels to Yudhishthir spake of the returning steed,


s: Spake of Arjun wending homeward with the victor's crown of meed.


s: "These and other mighty warriors, in the earthly battle slain,


s: By their valor and their virtue walk the bright ethereal plain!


s: Let them strive by kindly action, gentle speech, endurance long,


s: Brighter life and holier future unto sons of men belong!"


s: Having found life a tragedy of sorrow, the eldest Pandav, after


s: accomplish their union with the infinite."


s: Then the high-minded sons of Pandu and the noble Draupadi


s: Roamed onward, fasting, with their faces toward the east; their


s: Yearning for union with the Infinite, bent on abandonment


s: And by degrees they reached the briny sea;


s: They reached the northern region and beheld with heaven-aspiring


s: The mighty mountain Himavat. Beyond its lofty peak they passed


s: Toward a sea of sand, and saw at last the rocky Meru, king


s: Of mountains. As with eager steps they hastened on, their souls


s: On union with the Eternal, Draupadi lost hold of her high hope,


s: Thus during this toilsome journey, one by one fell, never to rise


s: verified, leaving the eldest Pandav alone with his dog.


s: Straight as he spoke, brightly great Indra smiled,


s: Vanished the hound, and in its stead stood there,


s: The lord of death and justice, Dharma's self.


s: swords. Along this frightful road the Pandav toiled, with cut and


s: brothers, who, thanks to his unselfishness, had been rescued from


s: The grandson of Arjuna reigned at Hastinapur until he died of a


s: informed the ascetic, _with a smile_, that the dissolution of the


s: The romantic story of Nala and Damayanti was told to comfort the


s: princess choose one of them as a spouse.


s: "Yet I see a way of refuge--'tis a blameless way, O king;


s: Whence no sin to thee, O rajah,--may by any chance arise.


s: Thou, O noblest of all mortals--and the gods by Indra led,


s: Come and enter in together--where the Swayembara meets;


s: Then will I, before the presence--of the guardians of the world,


s: And the birds above him hovering--thus in human accents spake,


s: Naked as they saw him standing--on the earth, and sad, and lone:


s: The queen-mother, looking over the battlements of her palace and


s: through dicing, and volunteers to serve the rani, provided she is


s: Before she had been there very long, however, her father sends


s: Then, thanks to his new skill in dicing, Nala recovers all he has


s: princess began to travel from court to court inspecting all the


s: "Once falls a heritage; once a maid yields


s: 'Choose, I abide thy choice.' These three things done,


s: Once have I chosen him, and choose not twice:


s: My heart resolved, my mouth hath spoken it,


s: My hand shall execute;--this is my mind!"


s: consent; so hand in hand she passed with her husband through the


s: With that the gloomy god fitted his noose,


s: And forced forth from the prince the soul of him--


s: Subtile, a thumb in length--which being reft,


s: Breath stayed, blood stopped, the body's grace was gone,


s: And all life's warmth to stony coldness turned.


s: Then, binding it, the Silent Presence bore


s: But the little wife, instead of staying with the corpse, followed


s: father-in-law so, for the way he had to tread was long and dark.


s: anything thou wilt and it shall be thine."


s: Noticing this time that he made no reservation, Savitri joyfully


s: And running swift, soon reached her goal,


s: That bound her breast, which hope new fired,


s: His breath came low at first, then deep,


s: A romantic tale, which passes as an epic in both countries, was


s: The first canto opens with an exquisite description of an autumn


s: Here the steep path winds with a swift ascent


s: Toward the summit:--the long grass that grew


s: In tufts upon the slopes, shrivelled and dry,


s: Lay dead upon her path;--hushed was the voice


s: Of the blithe chafers.--Only sable night


s: Her eyebrows are as twin half-moons: her hair


s: Lies on her snowy temples, like a cloud:


s: In charm of form she ranks with Sishih's self,


s: That pearl of loveliness, the Chinese Helen."


s: Taking his visitor gently by the hand, he leads her into the


s: suddenly interrupted by the outbreak of war. Her home sacked and


s: So ebbed and ebbed her life. I cannot tell


s: What in those days I suffered. Nature's self


s: Seemed to be mourning with me, for the breeze


s: Of Autumn breathed its last, and as it died


s: The vesper-bell from yonder village pealed


s: A requiem o'er my mother. Thus she died,


s: But dead yet lives--for, ever, face and form,


s: She stands before my eyes; and in my ears


s: Speaking as in the days when, strict and kind,


s: She taught me household lore,--in all a mother.


s: Now the red dawn had tipped the mountain-tops,


s: And birds, awaking, peered from out their nests,


s: To greet the day with strains of matin joy;


s: The while, the moon's pale sickle, silver white,


s: Clear was the air and cloudless, save the mists


s: That rolled in waves upon the mountain-tops.


s: Skirting the trunks of mighty trees, stealing beneath whispering


s: Ne'er visits with his parting rays at eve,


s: But all is gloom and silence save the cry


s: Of some belated bird that wakes the night.


s: Having brought their prisoner safely into this den, the robbers


s: And let us hear your skill; for I do swear


s: That, if you hesitate, then with this sword


s: I'll cut you into bits and give your flesh


s: To yonder noisy crows. Mark well my words."


s: So proficient is our little maiden on this instrument, that her


s: that he had not immediately told White Aster who he was.


s: Much then my spirit fought against itself,


s: Wishing to tell my name and welcome you,


s: My long-lost sister: but false shame forbade


s: adopted, giving her the name of the blossoms around her.


s: "Ere morn had scarce begun to dawn, I went


s: Through the churchyard 'twixt rows of gravestones hoar,


s: And blooming white chrysanthemums, I heard


s: Which following, I found, amidst the flowers,


s: A fair young child with crimson-mouthing lips


s: As guerdon of my faith, and brought it up


s: Amidst white-blooming asters, I named thee


s: river, climbs up on the high bridge, whence she intends to fling


s: Aster's wondering eyes rest upon the recluse, who ever since he


s: escaped from the brigand's clutches has vainly been seeking her


s: everywhere. He declares they shall never part again and tenderly


s: And she, in turn, seeing my sorry plight,


s: Cried to me from the rocks, and showed the way


s: The early European settlers found so many material obstacles to


s: They wring their hands, their caitiff hands,


s: nature or a bit of genuine poetry." This enormous mass of verse


s: includes Trumbull's burlesque epic, McFingal (1782), a work so


s: The second epic of this period is Timothy Dwight's "Conquest of


s: Canaan" in eleven books, and the third Barlow's "Columbiad." The


s: reading it all the way through. Still, it contains passages not


s: without merit, as the following lines prove:


s: Long on the deep the mists of morning lay,


s: Then rose, revealing, as they rolled away,


s: Half-circling hills, whose everlasting woods


s: Sweep with their sable skirts the shadowy floods:


s: And say, when all, to holy transport given,


s: Embraced and wept as at the gates of Heaven,


s: And, on our faces, blessed the wondrous man:


s: Say, was I then deceived, or from the skies


s: "Glory to God!" the vales and mountains rang.


s: Voices that hailed Creation's primal morn,


s: And to the shepherds sung a Saviour born.


s: Slowly, bare-headed, through the surf we bore


s: The sacred cross, and, kneeling, kissed the shore.


s: 'But what a scene was there? Nymphs of romance,


s: Youths graceful as the Fawn, with eager glance,


s: Spring from the glades, and down the alleys peep,


s: Then headlong rush, bounding from steep to steep,


s: And clap their hands, exclaiming as they run,


s: "Come and behold the Children of the Sun!"


s: It is, however, Longfellow, America's most popular poet, who has


s: The next poem, which some authorities consider Longfellow's


s: vouchsafed enchanting descriptions of places and people, and


s: forests, drifting along the great rivers, and revelling in the


s: Only along the shore of the mournful and misty Atlantic


s: Linger a few Acadian peasants, whose fathers from exile


s: Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom.


s: In the fisherman's cot the wheel and the loom are still busy;


s: While from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced, neighboring ocean


s: _Ope' wide, their Mouths_, and they'll receive


s: Can boast more Gifts than the Great Pow'rs


s: And ours has _Nutmeg's_ fit for _Toasts_


s: Then rub'd, drops Tears as if 'twas greiv'd,


s: Which by a neighbouring Shrub's receiv'd;


s: Tho' as one _shrinks_ and will not stand,


s: And grows more strong the more 'tis strok'd,


s: 'Twill _stand_ all _brunts_ in open Air;


s: But _kill'd the Tree_, yet gain'd his _End_,


s: And when they're gone we lose the _Seed_;


s: _Ulate_ their Plants on _Medlars_ Stock,


s: Whence first it sprang, and first increast,


s: And never fear----you'll soon have _Fruit_.


s: Which 'mongst the tender _Fibres_ breed,


s: One helps, and to'ther spoils the Ground;


s: And _against all Things that can happen_


s: Both to the Shrub and Tree, has told some


s: _On Homer_, some hard _Greek_ Word quotes,


s: And proves from some old _Grecian_ Poet,


s: So plain that all Men sure must know it,


s: That 'twixt the Queens rais'd such Dispute,


s: 'Tis true, they sometimes Tumours cause,


s: Makes Feuds and Discords straightway cease


s: Its fruits, contrary to most others, grow near the Root; they are


s: In the latter season they are subject to become weak and flaccid,


s: universally condemn'd, as a dangerous experiment.


s: Another caution, no less useful, we have from that excellent and


s: judicious Botanist Mr. _Humphrey Bowen_, to beware of a poisonous


s: celebrated gardens at _Vaux-hall_ over the water.


s: What various Arts attempts the am'rous Swain,


s: To force the Fair, or her Consent to gain--


s: Now _Balls_, now _Masquerades_ his Care employ,


s: And _Play_ and Park alternately give Joy--


s: Industrious _H----gg----r_, whose magick Brains


s: Still in their Shell the _Recipe_ retains


s: Like some good Midwife brings the Plot to light


s: And helps the lab'ring Swain to _Celia's_ Sight;


s: For this his Eunuchs in high Buskins tread--


s: And chaunt harmonious Lays for this,--and _Bread_;


s: For this the _Assembly's_ fix'd; and the huge Dome


s: Swells with the Lady's Vows, _when the Stake's gone_.--


s: For this he forms the vicious Masquerade,


s: Where Damsels may securely drive their Trade,


s: For which the Salesman, Chandler, Chairmen loudly pray,


s: And Pickpockets too, _hail_ the joyful Day--


s: But now what Tongue can praise the mighty Worth,


s: Who to _Ridotto_ gave an _English_ Birth;


s: And every wanton Wife resound his Praise;


s: No more shall _Duchesses_ to _Bath_ repair,


s: Or fly to _Tunbridge_ to procure an Heir;


s: _Spring-Gardens_ can supply their every Want,


s: For here whate'er they ask the Swain wil grant,


s: And future Lords (if they'll confess the right)


s: Shall owe their Being to this blessed Night;


s: Hence future Wickedness shall take its Rise,


s: (For Masquerade to this is paultry Vice)


s: An Aera of new Crimes shall hence begin,


s: His Head mends all the Frailties of his Face;


s: When Masques and Balls to their Conclusion drew,


s: To Glory rose, and by Degrees grew bold;


s: A while content the common Road they trod,


s: 'Till some great Act at last confess the _God_.


s: Now Painters _work_,--and dine, that starv'd before,


s: Fam'd _Covent-Garden_ droops with mournful Look,


s: Nor can St. _James's_ her great Rival brook:


s: Each _Duck_ and D----ss, quacks to different Tunes,


s: One _claps her Wings_ for Love, the other swoons;


s: Each _Vintner_ storms and swears he is undone,


s: Vollies of Oaths speak loud the Drawer's Moan;


s: _Porter_ who us'd to search for needful Girls,


s: Now sucks his Fingers, or his Apron twirls,


s: Bemoans his Loss of Business, and with Sighs,


s: In Box imprison'd lays the useless Dice.


s: _Spring-Garden_ now alone does all invite


s: No Lady, that can pawn her Coat or Gown,


s: Will rest 'till she has laid the Money down:


s: Each Clerk will to the Joints his Fingers work,


s: And Counsellors find out some modern Querk,


s: To raise the Guinea, and to see the _Grot_,


s: And 'mongst the _Belles_ to slant it at _Ridolt_.


s: Here Seamstresses and Maids together vie,


s: And the spruce 'Prentice shines in Sword and Tye:


s: Her Hair genteelly frizzled round her Ears;


s: Her Gown with _Tyrian_ Dyes most richly stain'd,


s: Glitt'ring with Orient Pearl from Orphans gain'd.


s: _My Lord_, to oblige his Spouse, takes Tickets three,


s: Crys, one's for you my Love, and one for me,


s: The third dispose as you shall best adjudge,


s: Shew where you're pleas'd, and where you owe a Grudge:


s: _Madam_ elate, thinks she'll be kind to _Betty_,


s: To hide the Slips she made with Spark i'th' City:


s: But _Stallion Tom_, who well knew how to scold,


s: And by his Mistress's Favour grown too bold,


s: Swears if _he_ has it not, he will reveal,


s: _Madam_, reluctant, gives him up the Paper;


s: He at her Folly laughs, and cuts a Caper.


s: Who never yet could brook the Marriage Noose,


s: By each a Ticket offer'd, scorns 'em all,


s: In hopes some Fool at last will Victim fall,


s: Which to her Charms she thinks most justly due;


s: At last a brisk young _Templar_ full of Fire,


s: Whom Writs with _Money_, Wine with Love inspire,


s: Address'd the Dame, she yeilds his glowing Charms,


s: Will Tickets to their Ladies Presents make;


s: For none's so niece as to refuse the Suit,


s: But grasps the Tree tho' 'tis _forbidden Fruit_.


s: _Near_ where _the Thames_ in pleasant Windings runs,


s: _Near_ where the famous Glass-house fiercely burns,


s: (Which to the Love of poor desponding Swains,


s: _Near_ where fam'd _Vaux_ was to have fled,


s: _With_ lighted Match, soon as he'd done the Deed;


s: Whence some pretend to say by second Sight,


s: That it foreshew'd the Fate attends this Night,


s: 'Cause here the Fair will many _Matches light_.


s: _Spring-Gardens_ lie shaded with verdant Trees,


s: That nod their reverend Heads at every Breeze;


s: Embassadors like _Turks_ hence send Express,


s: And _Ministers of State_ like Devils dress--


s: Should some wild _Indian_ see the various Scene,


s: He'd swear all Nations of the Earth do here convene,


s: And take for quite reverse this medley Farce,


s: Think Strumpers Saints, or catstick'd Beau a _Mars_.


s: But now the Dancers nimble Feet go round,


s: And with just Measures beat the passive Ground,


s: Each one inclines to different Delights--


s: Musick the Fair, Sweetmeats the Beau invite;


s: The _Templar_ wisely does his Care enroll,


s: Pockets the Pheasant, and eats up the Fowls


s: 'Till he has eat and drank his _Guinea_ out.


s: Now Dancing fires the Nymph to softer Joys;


s: The Musick's dull, the Wine and Sweetmeat cloys;


s: _Strephon_ streight takes the Hint, withdraws a-while,


s: By soft Endearments does her Grief beguile;


s: Soon they return more vig'rous than before,


s: For _Mahomet_ may dream of heavenly Stews,


s: Where Virgin Rose, soon as it's lost, renews,


s: And shake with every Breath of Air serene,


s: As trembling for the Rapes they've daily seen;


s: When if those past can shake their Height profound,


s: _Ridotto_ sure will fell them to the Ground;


s: Here Art to Nature join'd makes it compleat,


s: Statues amidst the thickest Grove arise,


s: And lofty Columns tow'ring to the Skies;


s: Then next an Obelisk its Shade displays,


s: And rustic Rockwork fills each empty Space;


s: Each joins to make it noble, and excells


s: Beaufets for Food, Grotto's for something else.


s: But hark! the Doors on jarring Hinges turn,


s: All enter in, and the blest Scene's begun;


s: A thousand Lights their livid Flames display,


s: Pour forth their Blaze, and form a mimick Day:


s: Sudden a motley Mixture fills the Place,


s: And Footmen shine as lordly as his Grace;


s: Ladies turn'd Men, in Breeches freely range:


s: Young smooth-chin'd Beaux turn Priests and Fryars,


s: And Nun's chaste Habits hide our Country 'Squires.


s: _Belles, Beaux_, and Sharpers here together play,


s: And Wives throw their good Spouses Wealth away;


s: And when their Cash runs low, and Fate runs cross,


s: They then _Cornute_ 'em to retrieve their Loss.


s: _Dice_ and Intrigue so mutually are blended,


s: That one begins as soon as t'other's ended:


s: A City Heiress blooming, rich, and fair,


s: Picks up the Cards and Counters with great Care;


s: Wit he had none, Beauty he had his share on,


s: A soft clear Skin, a dapper Neck and Waist,


s: In all Things suited to the modern Taste;


s: And most polite, like all our modish Brood,


s: He ogles Miss, she squints, and turns aside,


s: Nor can her Mask her rising Blushes hide;


s: At last (as Bargains here are quickly made)


s: She yeilds to be Caress'd, tho' still afraid;


s: She cries, a private Room's for them most fit,


s: This only is the Place, where in a Trice,


s: Some Angel steals the Wounds of friendly Vice;


s: The Nymph finds a Relief for all her Pains,


s: And the lost Maidenhead's restor'd again.


s: With a kind Fair t' unbend his troubled Mind,


s: It _Phoebus_ is, or some of heavenly Race.


s: A petty Courtier, of small Estate and Sense,


s: Stood hearkning by, and cry'd it was the P----ce.


s: Next to the _Grotto_ let us bend our Eye,


s: Speak O ye Trees with kind refreshing Shade,


s: This one, this happy Night, alone will shew


s: So many, that each conscious _Dryad_ flees,


s: Lest she too should be ravish'd thro' the Trees.


s: Next rattling Dice invite th' attentive Ear,


s: Lords loudly laugh, as loud the Bullies swear:


s: The Country Knight o'th' Shire sells his Estate,


s: And here with Heart intrepid meets his Fate;


s: So they withdrew to quench their glowing Flame,


s: For oh! sad Fate as they ascend the Stairs,


s: At the Room Door her good _Mamma_ appears,


s: Soon as she spies her Child with Looks demure,


s: She charges her to keep her _Vessel pure_:


s: _Mamma_, whose Hat and Wig is in the Room?


s: The good old Dame yeilds at the just Reproach,


s: Cries--_Well my Dear, don't take too much!_


s: Thus various Joys soon waste the fleeting Night,


s: And Sleep and Lust the Croud to Bed invite;


s: Some in their Truckle-Beds to snore all Day,


s: Others in Gambols with their Wh----es to play;


s: The Dunghill Trapes, trickt up like virtuous Trull,


s: If by good Chance, she gets a _Dupe_ or Cull;


s: And for a clean Shift presumes to run a Score.


s: Sages may say, that Arts and Science fail,


s: And Ignorance and Folly have weigh'd down the Scale:


s: In _England_ they have given new Arts a Rise,


s: And what in Science wants, increase in Vice,


s: And to be great as Angels when they fell,


s: (If not exceed) at _least_ they equal _Hell_.


s: The poem is the first of the great French heroic poems known as


s: equivalent--the romantic measure of Coleridge and Scott.


s: Simple almost to bareness in style, without subtlety or high


s: Hath been for seven full years in Spain.


s: From highland to sea hath he won the land;


s: Who loveth not God, nor seeks His grace:


s: He prays to Apollin, and serves Mahound;


s: But he saved him not from the fate he found.


s: Thus to his dukes and his counts he said,


s: Hither hath come for our dire mischance.


s: Nor power to shatter his power, is mine.


s: And he said to the king, "Be not dismayed:


s: A thousand hawks that have moulted free.


s: So shall his soldiers receive their pay.


s: Say, too long hath he warred in Spain,--


s: Let him turn to France--to his Aix--again.


s: At Saint Michael's feast you will thither speed,


s: We will send him the sons whom our wives have nursed;


s: Were death to follow, mine own the first.


s: Better by far that they there should die


s: Than be driven all from our land to fly,


s: "Yea," said Blancandrin, "by this right hand,


s: And my floating beard by the free wind fanned,


s: Ye shall see the host of the Franks disband


s: And hie them back into France their land;


s: He will hold high feast on Saint Michael's day


s: And the time of your tryst shall pass away.


s: He will smite off the heads of our hostages all:


s: Better, I say, that their heads should fall


s: And our lives be laden with shame and woe."


s: "Yea," said the heathens, "it may be so."


s: And he called to him Clarin of Balaguet,


s: Machiner and his uncle Maheu--with these


s: Blancandrin for spokesman,--of all his men


s: He hath summoned there the most felon ten.


s: "Go ye to Carlemaine," spake their liege,--


s: "Nay," said the heathens, "enough have we."


s: Blancandrin answered, "Your peace is won."


s: Their trappings with silver and gold inwrought--


s: On these are the messengers mounted well;


s: And they ride with olive boughs in hand,


s: Well let him watch; he shall be trepanned.


s: But confessed him Christian or else was slain.


s: The bachelors fence with a light address.


s: And he said to the king, "May God you save,


s: Marsil, our king, doth his greeting send.


s: Much of his wealth at your feet will place--


s: Seven hundred camels that bend the knee,


s: A thousand hawks that have moulted free,


s: Four hundred mules, with silver and gold


s: "Thou hast spoken well," at length he said.


s: And of all these words, so fair in show,


s: I will send my son, were his death at hand,


s: With the best and noblest of all our land;


s: And the feast of St. Michael of Peril falls,


s: "Yea!" said Karl, "he may yet be saved."


s: The ten white mules were stabled in stall;


s: On the sward was a fair pavilion dressed,


s: To give to the Saracens cheer of the best;


s: And they rest all night until morning tide.


s: The Emperor rose with the day-dawn clear,


s: As his Franks advise will his choice incline.


s: And his barons to council come forth anon:


s: With his nephew Henry was Richard the old,


s: "King Marsil to me hath his envoys sped.


s: Seven hundred camels that bend the knee;


s: A thousand hawks that have moulted free;


s: But he saith to France must I wend my way:


s: Yet I know not what in his heart may lie."


s: "Beware! beware!" was the Franks' outcry.


s: Scarce his speech did the Emperor close,


s: When in high displeasure Count Roland rose,


s: And said, "This Marsil, believe him not:


s: Seven full years have we warred in Spain;


s: Commibles and Noples for you have I ta'en,


s: He sent of his heathens, at first fifteen.


s: Lightly they flattered your heart's intent;


s: They were Basan and Basil, the brother knights:


s: He smote off their heads on Haltoia's heights.


s: Were the siege to last your lifetime through,


s: And the Franks, save Ganelon, all were still:


s: "Since now King Marsil his faith assures,


s: That, with hands together clasped in yours,


s: Good never came from counsel of pride,--


s: "You have hearkened," he said, "unto Ganelon.


s: Wise are his words, if you bide thereby.


s: King Marsil is beaten and broken in war;


s: You have captured his castles anear and far,


s: With your engines shattered his walls amain,


s: Let his hostages vouch for the faith he plights,


s: And send him one of your Christian knights.


s: 'Twere time this war to an ending came."


s: "Well saith the duke!" the Franks exclaim.


s: Thou wouldst play, I fear me, a perilous part.


s: "I command," said Karl, "that ye both be still.


s: The Franks are abashed and silent there.


s: Said: "Look, my liege, on your faithful Franks:


s: Seven full years have they held this land,


s: To me be the mace and the glove consigned;


s: "Be it, then," said Roland, "my stepsire Gan,


s: The Franks exclaim, "He is worth the trust,


s: So it please the king it is right and just."


s: Count Ganelon then was with anguish wrung,


s: His mantle of fur from his neck he flung,


s: And his grey eyes gleamed with a fierce unrest


s: And thou doom'st me on hest like this to go;


s: I promise to work thee scathe and strife


s: Long as thou breathest the breath of life."


s: "Am I known to wreck of the threats of men?


s: So it please the king, I will go instead."


s: Since Karl commands me his hest to fill,


s: Yet I fear me to wreak some deed of ill,


s: At Roland's laughter Count Ganelon's pain


s: Was as though his bosom were cleft in twain.


s: He turned to his stepson as one distraught:


s: "I do not love thee," he said, "in aught;


s: Thou hast false judgment against me wrought.


s: Yet withal, your sister is spouse of mine,


s: I leave him my honors and fiefs of right.


s: Guard him--no more shall he greet my sight"


s: Saith Karl, "Thou art over tender of heart.


s: He shall make confession of Christ's belief,


s: And I yield him, full half of Spain in fief;


s: In the other half shall Count Roland reign.


s: If he choose not the terms I now ordain,


s: "Gan," said the Emperor, "draw thou near:


s: On thee did the choice of thy fellows fall."


s: I shall not love him while life may last,


s: Nor the peers who cherish and prize him so,--


s: Saith Karl, "Thine anger hath too much sway.


s: That I may not like Basil and Basan die."


s: The Emperor reached him his right-hand glove;


s: As he bent him forward, it fell to ground:


s: "God, what is this?" said the Franks around;


s: "My lords," said Ganelon, "ye shall hear."


s: Said the king, "In Jesus' name and mine!"


s: And his right hand sained him with holy sign.


s: His choicest of harness and arms to don;


s: On his charger Taschebrun to mount and ride,


s: With his good sword Murgleis girt at side.


s: On his feet are fastened the spurs of gold,


s: And his uncle Guinemer doth his stirrup hold.


s: Long were you ranked in the king's array,


s: Carlemagne's self shall be scant defence;


s: Foul was the thought in Count Roland's mind,


s: Sir," they said, "let us with you wend."


s: And to Baldwin, my son, whom ye all know well,--


s: Cherish him, own him your lord of right."


s: He hath passed on his journey and left their sight.


s: And in cunning converse each other greet.


s: "What a man, what a wondrous man is Karl!


s: Unto England crossed he the salt sea rude,


s: Said Blancandrin, "Your Franks are high of fame,


s: But your dukes and counts are sore to blame.


s: Save Roland, who thus to his shame hath done.


s: He had plundered Carcassonne just before,


s: Were he slain, we all should have peace at last."


s: "Ruthless is Roland," Blancandrin spake,


s: And on all possessions of men would seize;


s: But in whom doth he trust for feats like these?"


s: "The Franks! the Franks!" Count Ganelon cried;


s: "They love him, and never desert his side;


s: For he lavisheth gifts that seldom fail,


s: The king himself may have spoil at call.


s: From hence to the East he will conquer all."


s: That Roland should be by practice slain,


s: And so they journeyed by path and plain,


s: In a pine-tree's shadow a throne was set;


s: Yet from them came nor breath nor sound;


s: All for the tidings they strained to hear,


s: As they saw Blancandrin and Ganelon near.


s: Blancandrin stepped before Marsil's throne,


s: "Mahound you save," to the king he said,


s: Save that his hands to Heaven he raised,


s: "Let him speak," said Marsil, "we yield him leave."


s: Gan had bethought him, and mused with art;


s: And he said to Marsil, "May God you save,


s: You shall make in Christ confession plain.


s: And he gives you in fief full half of Spain;


s: (Right haughty partner, he yields you there);


s: He grasped his javelin, plumed with gold,


s: In act to smite, were he not controlled.


s: And his right hand grasped his weapon's heft.


s: "Sword," he said, "thou art clear and bright;


s: I have borne thee long in my fellows' sight,


s: That I perished afar, in a strange countrie,


s: Ere thou in the blood of their best wert dyed."


s: "Dispart the mellay," the heathens cried.


s: And the Algalif said, "'Twas a sorry prank,


s: It was yours to hearken in silence there."


s: But for all the wealth of your land arrayed,


s: His mantle of fur, that was round him twined,


s: But still he held by his good sword fast,


s: "Your anger," he said, "misserves you sore.


s: As the princely Carlemaine saith, I say,


s: And half of Spain you shall hold in fee,


s: (And a haughty partner 'tis yours to see).


s: Nor steed nor palfrey shall you bestride,


s: And your head by doom stricken off at last.


s: And the scroll in the heathen's hand he placed.


s: Discolored with ire was King Marsil's hue;


s: The seal he brake and to earth he threw,


s: While his back against a pine he stayed.


s: His nobles round him their station kept:


s: Then was the villainous treason planned.


s: Thine shall they be ere the coming day."


s: "I may not," said Gan, "your grace gainsay.


s: "Trust me I love thee, Sir Gan, and fain


s: Would I hear thee discourse of Carlemaine.


s: 'Twas God who graced him with gifts so high.


s: Hath borne such strokes of blades and spears,


s: "I tell thee, Sir Gan, that a power is mine;


s: With the Franks of Karl to measure spears."


s: But his rear will tarry behind the host;


s: Hearken to me, and the counts lie slain;


s: The pride of Karl shall be crushed that day,


s: And his wars be ended with you for aye."


s: "Through Cizra's pass will the Emperor wind,


s: But his rear will linger in march behind;


s: Till worn and spent be the Frankish bands,


s: Though your bravest perish beneath their hands.


s: For another battle your powers be massed,


s: And your life from peril thenceforth be freed."


s: From Karl his good right arm will wring,


s: And the mighty land will in peace repose."


s: "Your will," said Gan, "be mine in all."


s: Of his sword Murgleis, and crowned his guilt.


s: And then on cheek and mouth they kissed.


s: "I love thee well, Sir Count," she spake,


s: "For my lord the king and his nobles' sake.


s: These by the queen to your spouse are sent."


s: Then did the king on his treasurer call,


s: "My gifts for Karl, are they ready all?"


s: On Ganelon's shoulder King Marsil leant.


s: "Thou art sage," he said, "and of gallant bent;


s: Let not thy thought from our purpose veer.


s: But it brings thee riches in equal mass.


s: As I swear to meet him in mortal fight."


s: Cried Gan, "Meseemeth too long we stay,"


s: The Emperor homeward hath turned his face,


s: The Emperor rose with the day dawn clear,


s: Sate at his tent on the fair green sward,


s: False was the treacherous tale he gave,--


s: For mine eyes beheld, beneath their ken,


s: When a tempest down on their galleys bore


s: He had stood this morn before your sight.


s: "And thanks, my Ganelon, well you sped."


s: For France, for France the Franks are bound.


s: Their lances poised, their helmets laced,


s: Their falchions glittering from the waist,


s: Brandished and shook it aloft with might,


s: Till it brake in pieces before his sight;


s: In his palace of Aix, at his own Chapelle.


s: When lo! from his hall, with leap and bound,


s: The Franks exclaim, "'Tis a stirring fray,


s: To whom shall I trust the rear to keep?"


s: "To my stepson Roland:" Count Gan replied.


s: Some mortal rage hath thy soul possessed.


s: To head my vanguard, who then were best?"


s: "Ogier," he answered, "the gallant Dane,


s: "Sir Stepsire, well may I hold thee dear,


s: That thou hast named me to guard the rear;


s: "It is sooth," said Gan, "and I know it well."


s: As in sight of Karl thou didst the mace?"


s: "Yield me the bow that you hold in hand;


s: As of Ganelon erst, that it failed my hold."


s: With working finger his beard he spread,


s: But soon Duke Naimes doth by him stand--


s: "You have seen and heard it all, O sire,


s: On him the choice for the rear-guard fell,


s: Yield him the bow that your arm hath bent,


s: Half of my host will I leave with thee."


s: "God be my judge," was the count's reply,


s: While I breathe in life you have nought to dread."


s: Count Roland sprang to a hill-top's height,


s: And he grasped his lance with its pennon's pride.


s: And the Franks exclaim, "We will follow thee."


s: "I go," said Turpin, "I pledge my head;"


s: "I am Roland's man, to his service bound."


s: That the Emperor's host may have nought to fear."


s: And a thousand Franks around him pressed.


s: They ranged the heights and passes through,


s: Scarce hath he courage to play his part.


s: High were the peaks, and the valleys deep,


s: Sadly the Franks through the passes wound,


s: Full fifteen leagues did their tread resound.


s: To their own great land they are drawing nigh,


s: They think of their homes and their manors there,


s: Is none but for pity the tear lets fall;


s: But the anguish of Karl is beyond them all.


s: Smites on his heart, and he weeps amain.


s: On the Spanish marches the twelve abide,


s: "Say, sire, what grief doth your heart oppress?"


s: "To ask," he said, "brings worse distress;


s: In an angel's vision, last night, methought


s: He wrested forth from my hand the spear:


s: And for Roland, a marvellous boding dread.


s: It was Gan, the felon, this treason bred;


s: He hath heathen gifts of silver and gold,


s: Horses and camels, and mules and steeds.--


s: To his dukes, his counts, and his vassals all,


s: On the loftiest turret they raise Mahound:


s: Till stream the banners of France in sight,


s: Where the peers of Carlemaine proudly stand,


s: And the shock of battle is hard at hand.


s: With a mule for steed, and a staff for goad:


s: I have fought and vanquished for you in field.


s: Be it mine on Roland to strike the blow;


s: Till Karl grows weary such wars to plan.


s: Then for your life have you won repose."


s: Foredoomed to die by our spears are they."


s: Yet he spake like vassal staunch and bold--


s: The third, Malprimis, of Brigal's breed,


s: More fleet of foot than the fleetest steed,


s: Or the twelve together, their doom is near.


s: The Franks shall perish in scathe and scorn;


s: And the land of Spain be for ever freed."


s: King Marsil's thanks were his gracious meed.


s: (Breathed not in Spain such a felon Moor)


s: Stepped unto Marsil, with braggart boast:


s: Full twenty thousand, with lance and shield.


s: Lifelong tears for him Karl shall yield."


s: And in Marsil's presence he joined the rest.


s: To the king he said, "Be fearless found;


s: No power shall Roland from slaughter save:


s: Nor shall he carry from thence his head;


s: And of all the twelve is the doom at hand.


s: The Franks shall perish, and France be lorn,


s: Of my people's captains ye shall be twain."


s: None the twelve from their death shall screen,


s: The swords we carry are bright and keen;


s: We will dye them red with the hot blood's vent


s: The Franks shall perish and Karl lament.


s: We will yield all France as your tribute meet.


s: Come, that the vision your eyes may greet;


s: The Emperor's self shall be at your feet."


s: Was none but joy in his look would take,


s: And he cried to the king over all the press,


s: Nor thence shall Olivier scathless come,


s: It shall crimsoned be with the red blood's trace:


s: Death to the Franks, and to France disgrace!


s: Shall have pain and sorrow both day and night;


s: At Saint Denys' bourg shall our leaguer lie."


s: Chernubles is there, from the valley black,


s: His long hair makes on the earth its track;


s: A load, when it lists him, he bears in play,


s: Which four mules' burthen would well outweigh.


s: 'Tis the home of demons, as some assert.


s: And he cried, "My good sword have I girt,


s: The Franks shall perish and France decline."


s: In a pine-tree forest their arms they don.


s: They don their hauberks of Saracen mould,


s: Wrought for the most with a triple fold;


s: They leave their sumpters and mules aside,


s: Leap on their chargers and serried ride.


s: Bright was the sunshine and fair the day;


s: Their arms resplendent gave back the ray.


s: Till the Franks the mighty clangor hear,


s: There is battle at hand with the Saracen foe."


s: "God grant," said Roland, "it may be so.


s: For his lord the vassal bears heat and cold,


s: Risks in his service both life and limb.


s: For mighty blows let our arms be strung,


s: With the Christian is good, with the heathen ill:


s: Glanced through the valley that stretched to right;


s: "What sights and sounds from the Spanish side,


s: White gleaming hauberks and helms in pride?


s: It was he who doomed us to hold the rear."


s: Looks far on the realm of Spain therefrom;


s: Spears with pennons that from them flow.


s: So far their numbers his thought surpass.


s: Down from the mountain he takes his way,


s: Such battle as waits you did ne'er befall.


s: That you be not vanquished in field to-day."


s: "Accursed," say the Franks, "be they who fly


s: None shall blench from the fear to die."


s: "In mighty strength are the heathen crew,"


s: "I were mad," said Roland, "to do such deed;


s: And her hilt be red to the golden guard.


s: The heathen felons shall find their fate;


s: Their death, I swear, in the pass they wait."


s: To the ear of Karl shall the blast be borne:


s: And all his barons their aid will lend."


s: That for me my kindred were stained with blame,


s: Or that gentle France to such vileness fell:


s: This good sword that hath served me well,


s: That with blood encrimsoned shall be the steel.


s: They shall all be numbered among the dead."


s: And the Franks return on their path full fast."


s: It shall never be spoken of me in scorn,


s: That for heathen felons one blast I blew;


s: But I will strike, ere this fight be o'er,


s: A thousand strokes and seven hundred more,


s: Our Franks will bear them like vassals brave


s: The Saracens flock but to find a grave."


s: Over plain and valley and mountain spread,


s: And the regions hidden beneath their tread.


s: That France through me from her glory bend.


s: On their chargers mounted, and girt in mail,


s: To the death in battle they will not quail.


s: Brave are the counts, and their words are high,


s: And the Pagans are fiercely riding nigh.


s: "See, Roland, see them, how close they are,


s: Were the king but here we were spared this woe.


s: Where standeth our doomed rear-guard the while;


s: They will do their last brave feat this day,


s: He shouted aloud to his Franks, and then


s: For his lord the vassal must bear the stress


s: Of the winter's cold and the sun's excess--


s: Strike thou with thy good lance-point and I,


s: Which the king himself to my keeping gave,


s: May say 'twas the sword of a vassal bold."


s: His sermon thus to the Franks he spake:--


s: "Lords, we are here for our monarch's sake;


s: Hold we for him, though our death should come;


s: The Franks alighted, and knelt on ground;


s: And for penance gave them--to smite their best.


s: Then each one sprang on his bounding barb,


s: To him the gifts and the treasures fell;


s: The price shall be with our good swords told."


s: Girt in his harness that shone full fair,


s: The steel erect in the sunshine gleamed,


s: With the snow-white pennon that from it streamed;


s: And his warriors hailed him with glad acclaim.


s: Courteously spake he, in words of grace--


s: The Saracens here to their slaughter toil:


s: Never fell to Monarch of France the like."


s: At his word, the hosts are in act to strike.


s: Our strait he knows not, the noble heart:


s: Think but of blows, both to give and take,


s: "_Montjoie!_" Whoever had heard that cry


s: Then ride they--how proudly, O God, they ride!--


s: With rowels dashed in their coursers' side.


s: By your chosen guardian betrayed and sold,


s: By your king left madly the pass to hold.


s: This day shall France of her fame be shorn,


s: And from Karl the mighty his right arm torn."


s: He spurred his steed, he slacked the rein,


s: Drave at the heathen with might and main,


s: Shattered his shield and his hauberk broke,


s: Right to the breast-bone went the stroke;


s: And the felon's soul from his body flew.


s: Wrenched was his neck as on earth he fell,


s: Yet would Roland scorn with scorn repel.


s: Nor shall France this day her fame forego.


s: We have the right and these dogs the wrong."


s: His nephew before him lie slain and stark.


s: "This day the honour of France is lost."


s: And hurled him dead from the saddle-bow.


s: And the pennon's flaps to his heart's blood went.


s: He saw the miscreant stretched on earth:


s: "Caitiff, thy threats are of little worth.


s: _Montjoie!_" 'Tis the Emperor's battle-call.


s: And those that front us, of vile esteem.


s: The day hath dawned that shall see them die."


s: He pricked with spurs of the fine gold wrought,


s: And in deadly passage the heathen sought;


s: Shield and corselet were pierced and riven,


s: And the lance's point through his body driven;


s: Turpin looked on him, stretched on ground.


s: Nor one of the Franks shall blench this day,


s: But your comrades here on the field shall lie;


s: First blows are ours, high God be praised!"


s: Once more the cry, "_Montjoie!_" he raised.


s: Whose good shield stood him no whit in stead;


s: Right through the hauberk, and through the skin,


s: Spurred at the Emir with levelled spear;


s: Severed his shield and his mail apart,--


s: The lance went through them, to pierce his heart.


s: At the Almasour's shield Duke Samson rode--


s: With blazon of flowers and gold it glowed;


s: But nor shield nor cuirass availed to save,


s: When through heart and lungs the lance he drave.


s: The Archbishop said, "'Tis a baron's blow."


s: Speeding the lance with a stroke so true,


s: That the iron traversed his body through.


s: On his courser's mane let the bridle flow;


s: Shattered the shield from his neck that swung;


s: On through his hauberk's vental pressed,


s: And betwixt his shoulders pierced his breast.


s: Pierced the joints of his harness bright,


s: Said Otho, "Thus shall ye all be slain."


s: Through shivered shield and hauberk torn.


s: Thus ten of the heathen twelve are slain;


s: Pushed the lance till it touched his side;


s: God of his grace made it harmless glide.


s: He fought with lance while his good lance stood;


s: Fifteen encounters have strained its wood.


s: At the last it brake; then he grasped in hand


s: Down through his coif and his fell of hair,


s: Betwixt his eyes came the falchion bare,


s: Down through the Saracen's chest and chine,


s: Down through the saddle with gold inlaid,


s: Till sank in the living horse the blade,


s: Severed the spine where no joint was found,


s: The field all flowed with the bright blood shed;


s: Nor to one of the peers be blame this day,


s: For the Franks are fiery to smite and slay.


s: "Well fought," said Turpin, "our barons true!"


s: And he raised the war-cry, "_Montjoie!_" anew.


s: Through the storm of battle rides Olivier,


s: His weapon, the butt of his broken spear,


s: Low at his feet were the brains bespread,


s: And the heathen lies with seven hundred dead!


s: Till the shaft he wielded in splinters flew.


s: "Comrade!" said Roland, "what makest thou?


s: Is it time to fight with a truncheon now?


s: With its crystal pommel and golden guard?"


s: He proved it in knightly wise straightway,


s: To the horse's chine, the falchion fell:


s: Said Roland, "My brother, henceforth, indeed!


s: The Emperor loves us for such brave blows!"


s: Around them the cry of "_Montjoie!_" arose.


s: The reins they slacken, and prick full well


s: One smites his cuirass, and one his shield,


s: Break in his body the spears they wield;


s: I know not, nor yet to mine ear was told.


s: Which of the twain was more swift and bold.


s: "Well have we 'scaped," the archbishop said:


s: "Crushed is the caitiff," Count Roland replies,


s: "Olivier, brother, such strokes I prize!"


s: And their lances broken and bloody fail.


s: And the Franks of their fairest youth bereft,


s: Who will look on mother or spouse no more,


s: Or the host that waiteth the gorge before.


s: Wound through a marvellous strait defile,


s: Where doth Count Walter the heights maintain


s: And the passes that lie at the gates of Spain.


s: In deadly wrath on the Franks they fall,


s: Then rose the wrath of Count Walter high;


s: And with evil greeting his foeman faced.


s: And the heathen assail him on every side;


s: Bruised and pierced was his hauberk white;


s: No longer bore he--four times he swooned;


s: He turned perforce from the field aside,


s: And the foe in hundreds and thousands fall;


s: Choice have they none but to flee or die,


s: Yet the Franks are reft of their chivalry,


s: Who will see nor parent nor kindred fond,


s: Nor Karl who waits them the pass beyond.


s: Now a wondrous storm o'er France hath passed,


s: With thunder-stroke and whirlwind's blast;


s: From Saint Michael's Mount to thy shrine, Cologne,


s: And a darkness spread in the noontide high--


s: No light, save gleams from the cloven sky.


s: They said, "The end of the world is near."


s: Alas, they spake but with idle breath,--


s: 'Tis the great lament for Roland's death.


s: Dread are the omens and fierce the storm,


s: Over France the signs and wonders swarm:


s: Staunch are the Franks with the sword to smite;


s: Nor is there one but whose blade is red,


s: "_Montjoie!_" is ever their war-cry dread.


s: Through the land they ride in hot pursuit,


s: And the heathens feel 'tis a fierce dispute.


s: Turn in flight from the field their face;


s: Saracens stretched on the green grass bare,


s: Helms and hauberks that shone full fair,


s: With heart and prowess the Franks have stood;


s: The archbishop crieth, "O staunch and true!


s: That our Emperor's vassals shall bear them best."


s: To seek their dead through the field they press,


s: And their eyes drop tears of tenderness:


s: Their hearts are turned to their kindred dear.


s: Distraught was Roland with wrath and pain;


s: Distraught were the twelve of Carlemaine--


s: With deadly strokes the Franks have striven,


s: And the Saracen horde to the slaughter given;


s: King Margaris fled from the field alone;


s: To the side of Spain did he take his way,


s: To tell King Marsil what chanced that day.


s: Scarce half a foot from the knob remained,


s: And his brand of steel with blood was stained;


s: On his body were four lance wounds to see:


s: "Ride, sire, on to the field forthright,


s: You will find the Franks in an evil plight;


s: Full half and more of their host lies slain,


s: Nor arms have they in their utmost need:


s: Helmets shone, with their gems displayed,


s: Seven thousand trumpets the onset sound;


s: To our Emperor vengeance may well belong,--


s: And thou, my comrade, with thy Hauteclere:


s: We have borne them gallantly otherwhere.


s: They shall sing against us no scornful strain."


s: As the Franks the heathen power descried,


s: Filling the champaign from side to side,


s: "O barons, think not one thought of shame;


s: For in sooth I deem that our end is nigh.


s: And the cry "_Montjoie!_" resoundeth clear.


s: He nails his flag with three nails of gold:


s: And the Franks exclaimed as they heard the clang--


s: Say the Franks, "We will win it every one."


s: And, like lions chafed, at the heathen spurred.


s: "What dark disaster," they said, "is nigh?


s: It was Climorin: hollow of heart was he,


s: What time each other on mouth they kissed,


s: He would bring fair France from her glory down


s: Than hawk or swallow more swift in speed.


s: Pricked with the spur, and the rein let flow,


s: Whom shield nor cuirass availed to save.


s: The sharp steel on through his body passed,


s: Strike in, my pagans, give blow for blow."


s: For their champion slain, the Franks cry woe.


s: "God grant," he answered, "revenge to me."


s: Grasping Hauteclere with his bloody blade.


s: Then turned he, Alphaien, the duke, to slay;


s: Saith Roland, "My comrade is much in wrath;


s: 'Twas he who in plight unto Gan the count,


s: His sword with a thousand coins bestowed.


s: Well did he prick with the sharp spurs bright,


s: To strike Duke Samson, the fearless knight.


s: And his pennon's flaps through his body sent;


s: "Strike, ye heathens; their doom is near."


s: And he smote, with passion uncontrolled,


s: Through head, and cuirass, and body down,


s: And the saddle embossed with gold, till sank


s: The griding steel in the charger's flank;


s: "A fearful stroke!" said the heathen crew.


s: "I shall never love you," Count Roland cried,


s: "With you are falsehood and evil pride."


s: In his body planted both steel and wood.


s: And the Franks the loss of their peer deplore.


s: Nor who hath such feats of his body done.


s: For the knight thou slewest my heart is sore."


s: He sets the spur to his steed once more,


s: And the heathen low on the sward is laid.


s: And his steed was fleeter than bird on wing.


s: And spurred him hard against Count Gerein,


s: In went the pennon, so fierce the shock,


s: Then he slew his comrade in arms, Gerier,


s: Say the Franks, lamenting, "We perish fast."


s: Well hath he heard how the Franks deplored;


s: Right dearly shalt thou this blood repay."


s: His war-horse springs to the spur straightway,


s: And they come together--go down who may.


s: By the stately bearing and glance of pride,


s: And a fear was on him he might not hide.


s: Fain would he fly, but it skills not here;


s: That it cleft the nasal his helm beneath,


s: And the Franks exult in their champion's blows.


s: And the Franks are cleaving in deadly ire;


s: On the green grass streaming the bright blood ran,


s: For thy sons are strong over might of man."


s: The Franks are thrusting with spears embrowned;


s: With crimson blood are their bodies stained,


s: And their brands of steel are snapped or strained;


s: And when the weapons their hands forsake,


s: Serried they charge, in power and pride;


s: The Christians cleaving them as they fled,


s: Till to Marsil stretcheth the line of dead.


s: King Marsil looks on his legions strown,


s: And the dragon flag of his race he bore.


s: The archbishop loathed him--full well he might,--


s: The archbishop began the fight once more;


s: When in Denmark Grossaille the king he slew.


s: The archbishop spurred him in fiery haste,


s: Came down on the wondrous shield the blow,


s: Carbuncle and topaz, each priceless stone;


s: But when Turpin smote it might nought avail--


s: Say the Franks, "Such deeds beseem the brave.


s: Well the archbishop his cross can save."


s: "Sir comrade, dost thou my thought partake?


s: How nobly smites he with lance and blade!"


s: Saith Olivier, "Yea, let us yield him aid;"


s: And the Franks once more the fight essayed.


s: For the Christians, alas, 'tis a tale of woes!


s: The Franks of France of their arms are reft,


s: The glittering helms they smite and shred,


s: "Who guards him not hath but choice to die."


s: Then with the lance did the heathens smite


s: Towards heaven the flames and sparkles sprang;


s: Brains and blood on the champaign flowed;


s: And his uncle, the good King Carlemaine;


s: And the spirit within him groans for pain.


s: Hauberk and helm he pierced and quelled,


s: Brandished on high his sword Hauteclere--


s: His arms with the crimson blood were dyed.


s: "God, what a vassal!" Count Roland cried.


s: This day shall set on our love the seal!


s: Nor breathes a Frank but for us will pray,--


s: From the cloister cells shall the orisons rise,


s: To lash and hew with their falchions keen;


s: With his lance the archbishop thrusts and slays,


s: And the numbers slain we may well appraise;


s: In charter and writ is the tale expressed--


s: "Ah, dear companion, may God thee shield!


s: Had he been with us, our king and friend!


s: "I will sound," said Roland, "upon my horn,


s: Said Olivier, "Nay, it were foul disgrace


s: On your noble kindred to wreak such wrong;


s: They would bear the stain their lifetime long.


s: But to sound thy horn thou wouldst not deign.


s: "In sooth," said Roland, "good strokes I sped."


s: Said Roland, "Our battle goes hard, I fear;


s: I will sound my horn that Karl may hear."


s: "'Twere a deed unknightly," said Olivier;


s: "Thou didst disdain when I sought and prayed:


s: Unto him and his host no blame shall be:


s: Thou shouldst never hold her in thine embrace."


s: "Roland, 'tis thou who hast wrought it all.


s: The king had come and the field were won;


s: Thy daring, Roland, hath wrought our woe.


s: That first of men till the judgment day;


s: Thou shalt die, and France dishonored be


s: Archbishop Turpin their strife hath heard,


s: His steed with the spurs of gold he spurred,


s: Contend not, in God's great name, I crave.


s: The Franks will all from their steeds descend;


s: When they find us slain and martyred here,


s: They will raise our bodies on mule and bier,


s: Nor wolf nor boar on our limbs shall feed."


s: "Our men have battle," he said, "on hand."


s: "If another spake, I would say he lied."


s: With deadly travail, in stress and pain,


s: Forth from his mouth the bright blood sprang,


s: And his temples burst for the very pang.


s: Till Karl hath heard as the gorge he passed,


s: "It is Roland's horn," said the Emperor,


s: "And, save in battle, he had not blown."


s: Such words bespeak you a child once more.


s: Have you, then, forgotten Roland's pride,


s: Which I marvel God should so long abide,


s: How he captured Noples without your hest?


s: Forth from the city the heathen pressed,


s: To your vassal Roland they battle gave,--


s: He slew them all with the trenchant glaive,


s: He would sound all day for a single hare:


s: 'Tis a jest with him and his fellows there;


s: Ride onward--wherefore this chill delay?


s: King Karl and the Franks around him hear.


s: Said Karl, "That horn is long of breath."


s: Said Naimes, "'Tis Roland who travaileth.


s: Arm, sire; ring forth your rallying cry,


s: To the trumpet the Franks alight and arm;


s: With casque and corselet and gilded brand,


s: "Could we reach but Roland before his death,


s: Blows would we strike for him grim and great."


s: The evening passed into brightening dawn.


s: And their painted bucklers seemed all ablaze.


s: For they thought of Roland with deadly fear.--


s: Count Gan, and had him in scorn consigned


s: "Hold me this felon," he said, "in chain."


s: Of the kitchen varlets the worst and best;


s: Roundly they beat him with rods and staves;


s: Then around his neck those kitchen knaves


s: On a beast of burthen the count they cast,


s: Till they yield him back to Karl at last.


s: The waters down through the valleys pour.


s: Till they stand beside him upon the field,


s: To the death together their arms to wield.


s: Too long they tarried, too late they strain.


s: Down on his harness his white beard flows.


s: But on all there presseth one grief of mind--


s: That they stand not beside Count Roland then,


s: Were he hurt in fight, who would then survive?


s: Yet three score barons around him strive.


s: He sees the lines of his warriors slain,


s: Where your souls may lie on the holy flowers;


s: May the great God save you who cannot lie.


s: Once more pressed Roland within the fight,


s: And, as flee the roe-deer before the hound,


s: Saith Turpin, "Right well this liketh me.


s: Or I prize him not at four deniers' rate;


s: Let him else be monk in a cloister cell,


s: His daily prayers for our souls to tell."


s: Cries Roland, "Smite them, and do not spare."


s: But the Christian ranks grow thinned and rare.


s: He bestrideth his charger, Gaignon hight,


s: And he pricketh him hard, Sir Beuve to smite,


s: Through shield and cuirass, he struck him down:


s: Who hast slain my fellows before my face,


s: Down, at the word, came the trenchant brand,


s: And from Marsil severed his good right hand:


s: Of the fair-haired Jurfalez, Marsil's son.


s: "Help us, Mahound!" say the heathen train,


s: Who will hold the field till their lives be spent."


s: "Let us flee and save us," cry one and all,


s: "At last," said Roland, "the hour is come,


s: Yet strike with your burnished brands--accursed


s: Who sells not his life right dearly first;


s: In life or death be your thought the same,


s: That gentle France be not brought to shame.


s: When the Emperor hither his steps hath bent,


s: He will breathe on our souls his benison."


s: Who have nothing white but the teeth alone,


s: That the hour of our death is close at hand.


s: Fight, my Franks, 'tis my last command."


s: Said Olivier, "Shame is the laggard's due."


s: When the heathen saw that the Franks were few,


s: Heart and strength from the sight they drew;


s: They said, "The Emperor hath the worse."


s: He pricked with spurs of the gold refined,


s: On through his harness the lance he pressed,


s: Till the steel came out at the baron's breast.


s: "Thou hast it!" the Algalif, vaunting, cried,


s: Of his wrongs against us he shall not boast;


s: Yet he grasped Hauteclere, with its steel embrowned;


s: He smote on the Algalif's crest of gold,--


s: Gem and flowers to the earth were rolled;


s: And struck him dead with the single blow.


s: But for thee--thou goest not hence to boast


s: Sides and shoulders and hands and feet,--


s: Whose eyes soever the sight would greet,


s: "_Montjoie!_" he shouted, shrill and clear;


s: Then called he Roland, his friend and peer,


s: Forth from his wound did the bright blood flow,


s: Reft of thy bravest, despoiled and lone;


s: See Roland there on his charger swooned,


s: His eyes from bleeding are dimmed and dark,


s: And when his comrade beside him pressed,


s: But passed no further, nor pierced his head.


s: "Hast thou done it, my comrade, wittingly?


s: Have I struck thee, brother? Forgive it me."


s: And in sight of God, I forgive thee here."


s: And in love like this was their parting made.


s: That he bless King Karl and France the fair,


s: Then sank his heart, and his head declined,


s: Stretched at length on the earth he lay,--


s: And with face to earth his comrade dead,


s: "Ah, friend, thy prowess wrought thee ill!


s: From the mountain-side hath Walter flown,


s: Where he met in battle the bands of Spain,


s: And the heathen won and his men were slain


s: "Ah, count! brave gentleman, gallant peer!


s: Where art thou? With thee I know not fear.


s: I am Walter, who vanquished Maelgut of yore,


s: For knightly deeds I was once thy friend.


s: My lance is shivered, my shield is cleft,


s: Of my broken mail are but fragments left.


s: I bear in my body eight thrusts of spear;


s: Count Roland heard as he spake the word,


s: Pricked his steed, and anear him spurred.


s: "Walter," said Roland, "thou hadst affray


s: With the Saracen foe on the heights to-day.


s: Stretched they lie on the dolorous ground,


s: Nor vaunting thence shall the heathen go,--


s: With our brands of steel we avenged us well,


s: And I bear such wounds in flank and side,


s: That from every part the bright blood flows,


s: And yield me succor while thou dost live."


s: Look to it, lords, that they shall not flee.


s: Craven, who lets them depart this spot."


s: Their cries and shoutings begin once more,


s: And from every side on the Franks they pour.


s: The archbishop, in battle proved and tried,


s: Each struck as if knight there were none beside.


s: From their steeds a thousand Saracens leap,


s: I trow they dare not approach them near,


s: But they hurl against them lance and spear,


s: The archbishop's shield in pieces shred,


s: His corselet of steel they rent and tore,


s: He found four hundred round him spread,--


s: When his horn he sounded, his temple burst;


s: But he yearns of Karl's approach to know,


s: The Emperor listened, and stood full still.


s: "My lords," he said, "we are faring ill.


s: And dire in sooth is the count's distress.


s: Alive he shall never be brought to yield:


s: "Let us flee, and save us," the heathen cried;


s: "These are the trumpets of France we hear--


s: Nor knight, but if he were vassal good,--


s: And he spake to Turpin, as there he stood;


s: We will pay the heathen their onset back,


s: "Base," said Turpin, "who spares to smite:


s: When the Emperor comes, he will all requite."


s: The heathens said, "We were born to shame.


s: And Karl at hand with his marshalled host;


s: We hear the trumpets of France ring out,


s: And the cry '_Montjoie!_' their rallying shout.


s: And the word they spake, they put in proof,--


s: They flung, with all their strength and craft,


s: Yet entrance none to his flesh they made.


s: Then from the field have the heathen flown:


s: To the land of Spain have their footsteps sped;


s: The archbishop's wounds hath he staunched and bound,


s: On the green sward gently his body laid,


s: And, with tender greeting, thus him prayed:


s: "For a little space, let me take farewell;


s: I will place them at thy feet reclined."


s: "Go," said Turpin; "the field is thine--


s: "Alas! for your doom, my lords," he said,


s: Once more to the field doth Roland wend,


s: The lifeless form to his heart he strained,


s: Bore him back with what strength remained,


s: The archbishop assoiled them all, and blessed.


s: The brave in council to guide and cheer,


s: "Alas," said Turpin, "how great thy dole!"


s: He stretched his hand, the horn he took,--


s: Through Roncesvailes there flowed a brook,--


s: A draught to Roland he thought to bring;


s: But his steps were feeble and tottering,


s: Spent his strength, from waste of blood,--


s: When sank his heart, and drooped his frame,


s: On his feet he rose, but in deadly pain;


s: He beheld the baron, stretched on sward,


s: While he raised his hands to heaven on high,


s: With word or weapon, to preach or fight,


s: And his brain was oozing from out his head),


s: Crossed and clasped them upon his breast,


s: And thus his plaint to the dead addressed,--


s: For his peers he prayed--God keep them well;


s: That none reproach him, his horn he clasped;


s: Then, far as quarrel from crossbow sent,


s: And he swooned anon, for the end was nigh.


s: High were the mountains and high the trees,


s: On the green grass Roland hath swooned away.


s: Stretched with the rest he had feigned him dead,


s: To his feet he sprang, and in haste he hied,--


s: He was fair and strong and of courage tried,


s: And on Roland, body and arms, laid hold.


s: His eyes he oped, and he spake one word--


s: And he clutched the horn he would ne'er forego;


s: Who hears it will deem thee a madman born;


s: Yet he stands erect with what strength is left;


s: From his bloodless cheek is the hue dispelled,


s: Grated the steel as it struck the flint,


s: Yet it brake not, nor bore its edge one dint.


s: What realms and regions 'twas ours to gain,


s: Such as France the free shall know no more."


s: It grated, but breach nor notch was there.


s: When Roland found that it would not break,


s: Thou sparklest, flaming against the light!


s: 'This sword shall a valorous captain's be,'


s: And the Saxon soil to his bidding bowed;


s: But there presses on me a grievous pain,


s: O God our Father, keep France from stain!"


s: His strokes once more on the brown rock fell,


s: And the steel was bent past words to tell;


s: Yet it brake not, nor was notched the grain,


s: When he failed at the last to break his blade,


s: Tooth of Saint Peter, Saint Basil's blood,


s: Hair of Saint Denis beside them strewed,


s: 'Twere shame that thou with the heathen rest;


s: Thee should the hand of a Christian serve


s: That death was on him he knew full well;


s: Down from his head to his heart it fell.


s: On the grass beneath a pine-tree's shade,


s: Beneath him placed he his horn and sword,


s: And turned his face to the heathen horde.


s: That Karl and his warriors all may know,


s: In sign of penance, he raised his glove.


s: On a knoll he lies towards the Spanish land.


s: "In thy sight, O God, be my sins confessed.


s: From my hour of birth, both the great and small,


s: To the land of Spain hath he turned his face,


s: On his memory rose full many a thought--


s: Of the lands he won and the fields he fought;


s: Of his gentle France, of his kin and line;


s: Of his nursing father, King Karl benign;--


s: For the sins I sinned my lifetime through."


s: Saint Gabriel took from his hand the gift;


s: From heaven they came for that soul of price,


s: But was strewn with Frank or heathen slain,


s: "Where art thou, Roland?" he cried in pain:


s: My peers, the twelve whom I left behind?"


s: That I was not in front of this battle line!"


s: For son and brother their tears descend,


s: Yet for right and honor, the sooth ye say.


s: Fair France's flower they have torn from me."


s: To Tybalt of Rheims, and Milo the count.


s: "Guard the battle-field, vale, and mount--


s: Watch, that nor lion nor beast come nigh,


s: Till with God's good grace we return again."


s: "Great lord, fair sire, we will do your hest,"


s: They came at last on the heathens' trace,


s: But the king of the falling eve was ware:


s: That he make the sun in his course delay,


s: Then his wonted angel who with him spake,


s: God seeth the flower of France laid low;


s: In his place in heaven the sun stood still.


s: Was neither shallop, nor boat, nor barge.


s: The heathens plunge, but with scanty vaunt.


s: And the luckiest drank their fill, I deem:


s: Cry the Franks, "In Roland your fate ye found."


s: As he sees the doom of the heathen host,


s: (Great spoil have won the Christian knights),


s: And kneels, his thanks unto God to pour:


s: "It is time to rest," the Emperor cried,


s: "And to Roncesvalles 'twere late to ride.


s: Our steeds are weary and spent with pain;


s: Free let them browse on the verdant mead."


s: "Sire," say the Franks, "it were well indeed."


s: And the Franks alight in the vacant plain;


s: The saddles from their steeds they strip,


s: And the bridle-reins from their heads they slip;


s: They set them free on the green grass fair,


s: But lies in his broidered hauberk white.


s: Karl hath its point--so God him graced--


s: The name Joyeuse to the sword was given;


s: Thence came "_Montjoie_," their battle-cry,


s: Clear was the night, and the fair moon shone.


s: The Franks are sleeping throughout the meads;


s: They crop the herb as they stretch them prone.--


s: Much hath he learned who hath sorrow known.


s: The Emperor slumbered like man forespent,


s: All night the angel kept watch and ward,


s: There saw he lightning, and hail, and storm,


s: And their bucklers in to the knobs of gold;


s: "Help us, Karl!" was the Franks' outcry,


s: And each seized other with deadly clasp;


s: But who shall conquer or who shall fall,


s: On the mightiest of the bears he pressed,


s: Then mount they, and in haste they ride,


s: Through lengthening path and highway wide


s: And his tears are falling above the dead;


s: For my nephew's sake, whom I fain would find.


s: When we met at the yearly festal-tide,--


s: Of stricken fields and joustings proud,--


s: But in front of his peers and his warriors all,


s: He would lie with head to the foeman's shore,


s: The flowers and grass throughout the meads


s: And his tears of pity break forth in flood.


s: He upward climbs, till, beneath two trees,


s: Stretched it lay on the green grass bare.


s: He alighted down, and in haste he pressed,


s: But he looked to earth where his nephew lay,


s: "My friend, my Roland, God guard thy soul!


s: Who slew thee wrought fair France's bane:


s: Let us seek our comrades throughout the plain,


s: Who fell by the hands of the men of Spain;


s: And let their bodies on biers be borne."


s: "Yea," said the Emperor. "Sound your horn."


s: Now doth Count Geoffrey his bugle sound,


s: And the Franks from their steeds alight to ground


s: The dead they blessed in God's great name,


s: What could they more?--in honored grave.


s: But the king kept watch o'er Roland's bier


s: Shorn from his wrist was his right hand good;


s: King Karl and gentle France they cursed;


s: His limbs with staves they bruise and break:


s: with a mighty army, to the succor of King Marsil his vassal. This


s: Dead lay the heathens, or turned to flight,


s: Day passed; the shades of night drew on,


s: And a thousand Franks, by the king's award,


s: He has him hanged or burned straightway.


s: So a hundred thousand to Christ are won;


s: Night passed, and came the daylight hours,


s: Then all his Franks ascend their steeds,


s: And so, in pride and strength, they went;


s: And reached thy stately walls, Bordeaux.


s: Of the marble white their tombs were made;


s: In Saint Roman's shrine are the baron's laid,


s: Whom the Franks to God and his saints commend


s: Nor stays till Aix is reached, and there


s: The realm of France he searches through,


s: The Franks bewail her in grief and dole.


s: They bound his hands with leathern thong,


s: Beat him with staves and cordage strong;


s: Now face to face with his Emperor brought.


s: Through him ten thousand Franks lie slain


s: Foully he wronged me in wealth and land,


s: Count Gan to the Emperor's presence came,


s: With a baron's mien, were his heart but true.


s: On his judges round his glance he threw,


s: Vengeance, not treason, have I wrought."


s: "Thereon," they answered, "take we thought."


s: Give him the lie with my brand of steel."


s: But the men of Auvergne are mild of mood--


s: Let us leave this plea, and the king implore


s: Henceforth to serve him in love and faith:


s: Dark grew his face and drooped his brow.


s: Duke Geoffrey's brother, a noble knight,


s: I have served you truly, and, in the name


s: I adjudge him to die on the gallows tree;


s: Small hope hath he whom his sword may smite.


s: Thierry hath dared to adjudge the cause;


s: Be they guarded well till the right be tried."


s: They make their shrift, are sained and blessed;


s: Great gifts to church and cloister leave.


s: Gird on their corselets, strong and light;


s: Close on their heads the helmets bright.


s: Their quartered shields from shoulder swung.


s: Then spring they on their chargers swift.


s: God knows what end the strife will take.


s: They prick them hard with slackened rein;


s: Drive each at other with might and main.


s: Their hauberks rent, their girths unstrung;


s: With saddles turned, they earthward rolled.


s: Each striketh other, unhorsed they fight;


s: Trenchant and fierce is their every blow.


s: "O God," saith Karl, "Thy judgment show."


s: "In love and faith will I serve thee well,


s: And all my wealth to thy feet will bring,


s: "Shall thought so base in my bosom bide!


s: Smote Thierry's helm with stroke so deep


s: The edge of steel did his forehead trace


s: For his bright blood flowed on the grass below,


s: And, with stroke of prowess, cast him dead.


s: "God," say the Franks, "hath this marvel done."


s: Karl clasped him in his arms straightway


s: Then cast it from him, and, in its place,


s: Where the kin of Ganelon wait their doom.


s: Karl his dukes and his counts addressed:


s: "Say, what of those who in bondage rest--


s: And the king to Basbrun, his provost, saith


s: They bade be brought four stallions fleet;


s: And a mare was standing within the mead;


s: And the limbs of his body apart were borne;


s: The bright blood, springing from every vein,


s: And he called to the bishops of France anon


s: She hath hearkened to sermon and homily,


s: Baptize her so that her soul have grace."


s: At her christening, be her sponsors vowed."


s: At the baths of Aix was the wondrous scene--


s: In faith and truth unto Christ she came.


s: When the Emperor's justice was satisfied,


s: The day passed on into night's dark shade;


s: "Karl, thou shalt summon thine empire's host,


s: The heathens in siege have the town essayed


s: And the shattered Christians invoke thine aid."


s: _The vast and interesting epic literature of Ireland remained


s: achievements of the heroes are fantastic and extraordinary beyond


s: clear-beautiful cheeks. Dark as the back of a stag-beetle the two


s: "Query, whence art thou and whence hast thou come?" says Eochaid.


s: "I will go in the morning after you," quoth he.


s: "Till to-day," says Conaire, "I knew not this."


s: "The evil-beasts of Cerna must not be hunted by thee.


s: "And thou shalt not go out every ninth night beyond Tara.


s: "Thou shalt not sleep in a house from which firelight is manifest


s: "And three Reds shall not go before thee to Red's house.


s: "And no rapine shall be wrought in thy reign.


s: "And thou shalt not settle the quarrel of thy two thralls.


s: Now his fosterbrothers murmured at the taking from them of their


s: Since, then, pride and wilfulness possessed them, they took to


s: consulted the king concerning the matter, and he said: "Let each


s: (father) slay his son, but let my fosterlings be spared."


s: "Leave, leave!" says every one: "it shall be done for thee."


s: fosterbrothers of his were they. And until Conaire came it was


s: "Whither shall we betake ourselves?" says Conaire.


s: So they took their way by the coast of Ireland southward.


s: "When I was acquainted with his house," says Mac cecht, "the road


s: "I will follow them," says Lé fri flaith, Conaire's son.


s: "Lo, my son, great the news, news from a hostel.... Lo my son!"


s: They go away from him then: he could not detain them.


s: The boy turns back and repeated the lay to Conaire.


s: "Go after them," says Conaire, "and offer them six oxen and six