s: "Must I relinquish it all, the joy, the hope, the illusion?


s: Over the wintry sea, to the desolate shores of New England?


s: Truly the heart is deceitful, and out of its depths of corruption


s: Angels of light they seem, but are only delusions of Satan.


s: All is clear to me now; I feel it, I see it distinctly!


s: This is the hand of the Lord; it is laid upon me in anger,


s: For I have followed too much the heart's desires and devices,


s: Worshipping Astaroth blindly, and impious idols of Baal.


s: So through the Plymouth woods John Alden went on his errand;


s: Modest and simple and sweet, the very type of Priscilla!


s: Came to an open space, and saw the disk of the ocean,


s: Heard, as he drew near the door, the musical voice of Priscilla


s: Singing the hundredth Psalm, the grand old Puritan anthem,


s: Music that Luther sang to the sacred words of the Psalmist,


s: Full of the breath of the Lord, consoling and comforting many.


s: Then, as he opened the door, he beheld the form of the maiden


s: Seated beside her wheel, and the carded wool like a snow-drift


s: Piled at her knee, her white hands feeding the ravenous spindle,


s: Printed in Amsterdam, the words and the music together,


s: Making the humble house and the modest apparel of home-spun


s: Beautiful with her beauty, and rich with the wealth of her being!


s: Haunted by vain regrets, and pallid, sorrowful faces.


s: Still he said to himself, and almost fiercely he said it,


s: "Let not him that putteth his hand to the plough look backwards;


s: So he entered the house: and the hum of the wheel and the singing


s: Now it was all too late; the golden moment had vanished!


s: Going about as of old, and stopping to gossip together,


s: And, at the end of the street, the village church, with the ivy


s: Still my heart is so sad, that I wish myself back in Old England.


s: Wish myself back in Old England, I feel so lonely and wretched."


s: Thereupon answered the youth:--"Indeed I do not condemn you;


s: So I have come to you now, with an offer and proffer of marriage


s: Thus he delivered his message, the dexterous writer of letters,--


s: Mute with amazement and sorrow, Priscilla the Puritan maiden


s: Looked into Alden's face, her eyes dilated with wonder,


s: "If the great Captain of Plymouth is so very eager to wed me,


s: Why does he not come himself, and take the trouble to woo me?


s: If I am not worth the wooing, I surely am not worth the winning!"


s: Making it worse as he went, by saying the Captain was busy,--


s: Then you make known your desire, with abrupt and sudden avowal,


s: And are offended and hurt, and indignant perhaps, that a woman


s: Does not respond at once to a love that she never suspected,


s: Is not a thing to be asked for, and had for only the asking.


s: When one is truly in love, one not only says it, but shows it.


s: Had he but waited awhile, had he only showed that he loved me,


s: Still John Alden went on, unheeding the words of Priscilla,


s: Urging the suit of his friend, explaining, persuading, expanding;


s: Still bore the family arms, and had for his crest a cock argent


s: Combed and wattled gules, and all the rest of the blazon.


s: He was a man of honor, of noble and generous nature;


s: Somewhat hasty and hot, he could not deny it, and headstrong,


s: Stern as a soldier might be, but hearty, and placable always,


s: Any woman in Plymouth, nay, any woman in England,


s: Might be happy and proud to be called the wife of Miles Standish!


s: But as he warmed and glowed, in his simple and eloquent language,


s: Into the open air John Alden, perplexed and bewildered,


s: Paced up and down the sands, and bared his head to the east-wind,


s: Slowly as out of the heavens, with apocalyptical splendors,


s: Sank the City of God, in the vision of John the Apostle,


s: So, with its cloudy walls of chrysolite, jasper, and sapphire,


s: Sank the broad red sun, and over its turrets uplifted


s: Glimmered the golden reed of the angel who measured the city.


s: Lay thy cold, moist hand on my burning forehead, and wrap me


s: Close in thy garments of mist, to allay the fever within me!"


s: Like an awakened conscience, the sea was moaning and tossing,


s: Beating remorseful and loud the mutable sands of the sea-shore.


s: "It hath displeased the Lord!  It is the temptation of Satan!"


s: Then, uplifting his head, he looked at the sea, and beheld there


s: Dimly the shadowy form of the Mayflower riding at anchor,


s: Rocked on the rising tide, and ready to sail on the morrow;


s: Heard the voices of men through the mist, the rattle of cordage


s: Stops, then quickens his pace, and follows the beckoning shadow.


s: Her whom I may not love, and him whom my heart has offended.


s: Better to be in my grave in the green old churchyard in England,


s: Close by my mother's side, and among the dust of my kindred;


s: Better be dead and forgotten, than living in shame and dishonor!


s: Sacred and safe and unseen, in the dark of the narrow chamber


s: Through the congenial gloom of the forest silent and sombre,


s: Till he beheld the lights in the seven houses of Plymouth,


s: Shining like seven stars in the dusk and mist of the evening.


s: Soon he entered his door, and found the redoubtable Captain


s: Sitting alone, and absorbed in the martial pages of Caesar,


s: Fighting some great campaign in Hainault or Brabant or Flanders.


s: "Not far off is the house, although the woods are between us;


s: Come, sit down, and in order relate to me all that has happened."


s: Then John Alden spake, and related the wondrous adventure,


s: From beginning to end, minutely, just as it happened;


s: How he had seen Priscilla, and how he had sped in his courtship,


s: Only smoothing a little, and softening down her refusal.


s: But when he came at length to the words Priscilla had spoken,


s: Even as a hand-grenade, that scatters destruction around it.


s: Wildly he shouted, and loud: "John Alden! you have betrayed me!


s: Brutus was Caesar's friend, and you were mine, but henceforward


s: Let there be nothing between us save war, and implacable hatred!"


s: Bringing in uttermost haste a message of urgent importance,


s: Rumors of danger and war and hostile incursions of Indians!


s: Growing fainter and fainter, and dying away in the distance.


s: Then he arose from his seat, and looked forth into the darkness,


s: Men in the middle of life, austere and grave in deportment,


s: Only one of them old, the hill that was nearest to heaven,


s: Covered with snow, but erect, the excellent Elder of Plymouth.


s: So say the chronicles old, and such is the faith of the people!


s: Near them was standing an Indian, in attitude stern and defiant,


s: Naked down to the waist, and grim and ferocious in aspect;


s: While on the table before them was lying unopened a Bible,


s: Ponderous, bound in leather, brass-studded, printed in Holland,


s: And beside it outstretched the skin of a rattle-snake glittered,


s: Talking of this and of that, contriving, suggesting, objecting;


s: One voice only for peace, and that the voice of the Elder,


s: Judging it wise and well that some at least were converted,


s: Rather than any were slain, for this was but Christian behavior!


s: Then out spake Miles Standish, the stalwart Captain of Plymouth,


s: Muttering deep in his throat, for his voice was husky with anger,


s: Is it to shoot red squirrels you have your howitzer planted


s: There on the roof of the church, or is it to shoot red devils?


s: Truly the only tongue that is understood by a savage


s: Somewhat amazed and alarmed at this irreverent language:


s: "Not so thought Saint Paul, nor yet the other Apostles;


s: Who had advanced to the table, and thus continued discoursing:


s: "Leave this matter to me, for to me by right it pertaineth.


s: War is a terrible trade; but in the cause that is righteous,


s: Sweet is the smell of powder; and thus I answer the challenge!"


s: Full to the very jaws, and handed it back to the savage,


s: Bearing the serpent's skin, and seeming himself like a serpent,


s: Winding his sinuous way in the dark to the depths of the forest.


s: Figures ten, in the mist, marched slowly out of the village.


s: Standish the stalwart it was, with eight of his valorous army,


s: Led by their Indian guide, by Hobomok, friend of the white men,


s: Northward marching to quell the sudden revolt of the savage.


s: Giants they seemed in the mist, or the mighty men of King David;


s: Giants in heart they were, who believed in God and the Bible,--


s: Ay, who believed in the smiting of Midianites and Philistines.


s: Over them gleamed far off the crimson banners of morning;


s: Under them loud on the sands, the serried billows, advancing,


s: Fired along the line, and in regular order retreated.


s: Merrily sang the birds, and the tender voices of women


s: Consecrated with hymns the common cares of the household.


s: Beautiful on the sails of the Mayflower riding at anchor,


s: Battered and blackened and worn by all the storms of the winter.


s: Loosely against her masts was hanging and flapping her canvas,


s: Rent by so many gales, and patched by the hands of the sailors.


s: Suddenly from her side, as the sun rose over the ocean,


s: Darted a puff of smoke, and floated seaward; anon rang


s: Loud over field and forest the cannon's roar, and the echoes


s: Heard and repeated the sound, the signal-gun of departure!


s: Ah! but with louder echoes replied the hearts of the people!


s: Meekly, in voices subdued, the chapter was read from the Bible,


s: Meekly the prayer was begun, but ended in fervent entreaty!


s: Eager, with tearful eyes, to say farewell to the Mayflower,


s: Homeward bound o'er the sea, and leaving them here in the desert.


s: But with the dawn he arose; in the twilight Alden beheld him


s: Put on his corselet of steel, and all the rest of his armor,


s: Buckle about his waist his trusty blade of Damascus,


s: Saw him go forth to danger, perhaps to death, and he spake not!


s: There with his boat was the Master, already a little impatient


s: Into his narrow brain, till at last he was wholly bewildered.


s: Nearer the boat stood Alden, with one foot placed on the gunwale,


s: He too was eager to go, and thus put an end to his anguish,


s: Fixed with a look so sad, so reproachful, imploring, and patient,


s: Whereupon turn, as on hinges, the gates of the wall adamantine!


s: "Yonder snow-white cloud, that floats in the ether above me,


s: Seems like a hand that is pointing and beckoning over the ocean.


s: There is another hand, that is not so spectral and ghost-like,


s: Holding me, drawing me back, and clasping mine for protection.


s: Float, O hand of cloud, and vanish away in the ether!


s: Roll thyself up like a fist, to threaten and daunt me; I heed not


s: There is no land so sacred, no air so pure and so wholesome,


s: Hover around her for ever, protecting, supporting her weakness;


s: Meanwhile the Master alert, but with dignified air and important,


s: Saying a few last words, and enforcing his careful remembrance.


s: Then, taking each by the hand, as if he were grasping a tiller,


s: Into the boat he sprang, and in haste shoved off to his vessel,


s: Glad in his heart to get rid of all this worry and flurry,


s: Glad to be gone from a land of sand and sickness and sorrow,


s: Short allowance of victual, and plenty of nothing but Gospel!


s: No, not one looked back, who had set his hand to this ploughing!


s: Soon were heard on board the shouts and songs of the sailors


s: Heaving the windlass round, and hoisting the ponderous anchor.


s: Then the yards were braced, and all sails set to the west-wind,


s: Took the wind on her quarter, and stood for the open Atlantic,


s: Long in silence they watched the receding sail of the vessel,


s: Much endeared to them all, as something living and human;


s: Gleamed the departing sail, like a marble slab in a graveyard;


s: Buried beneath it lay for ever all hope of escaping.


s: Lo! as they turned to depart, they saw the form of an Indian,


s: Musing alone on the shore, and watching the wash of the billows


s: Thus for a while he stood, and mused by the shore of the ocean,


s: Thinking of many things, and most of all of Priscilla;


s: Lo! as he turned to depart, Priscilla was standing beside him.


s: "Are you so much offended, you will not speak to me?" said she.


s: "Am I so much to blame, that yesterday, when you were pleading


s: Warmly the cause of another, my heart, impulsive and wayward,


s: Pleaded your own, and spake out, forgetful perhaps of decorum?


s: Certainly you can forgive me for speaking so frankly, for saying


s: What I ought not to have said, yet now I can never unsay it;


s: Drops some careless word, it overflows, and its secret,


s: Spilt on the ground like water, can never be gathered together.


s: Quite overlooking yourself and the rest, in exalting your hero.


s: Therefore I spake as I did, by an irresistible impulse.


s: Seeing how badly I managed the matter I had in my keeping."


s: "No!" interrupted the maiden, with answer prompt and decisive;


s: "No; you were angry with me, for speaking so frankly and freely.


s: It was wrong, I acknowledge; for it is the fate of a woman


s: Hence is the inner life of so many suffering women


s: Sunless and silent and deep, like subterranean rivers


s: More like the beautiful rivers that watered the garden of Eden,


s: "How very little you prize me, or care for what I am saying.


s: Lifting mine up to a higher, a more ethereal level.


s: If you make use of those common and complimentary phrases


s: Most men think so fine, in dealing and speaking with women,


s: But which women reject as insipid, if not as insulting."


s: Mute and amazed was Alden; and listened and looked at Priscilla,


s: Casting a farewell look at the glimmering sail of the Mayflower,


s: Distant, but still in sight, and sinking below the horizon,


s: Thus, as a pilgrim devout, who toward Jerusalem journeys,


s: Taking three steps in advance, and one reluctantly backward,


s: Urged by importunate zeal, and withheld by pangs of contrition;


s: Slowly but steadily onward, receding yet ever advancing,


s: Journeyed this Puritan youth to the Holy Land of his longings,


s: Burning and crackling within, and the sulphurous odor of powder


s: He who was used to success, and to easy victories always,


s: Thus to be flouted, rejected, and laughed to scorn by a maiden,


s: "I alone am to blame," he muttered, "for mine was the folly.


s: What has a rough old soldier, grown grim and gray in the harness,


s: Thus he revolved in his mind his sorry defeat and discomfort,


s: While he was marching by day or lying at night in the forest,


s: Looking up at the trees, and the constellations beyond them.


s: After a three days' march he came to an Indian encampment


s: Pitched on the edge of a meadow, between the sea and the forest;


s: One was Pecksuot named, and the other was called Wattawamat.


s: Other arms had they none, for they were cunning and crafty.


s: But when Standish refused, and said he would give them the Bible,


s: Suddenly changing their tone, they began to boast and to bluster.


s: And, with a lofty demeanor, thus vauntingly spake to the Captain:


s: Angry is he in his heart; but the heart of the brave Wattawamat


s: Is not afraid at the sight.  He was not born of a woman,


s: But on a mountain, at night, from an oak-tree riven by lightning,


s: Saying, with bitter expression and look of sinister meaning:


s: "I have another at home, with the face of a man on the handle;


s: Meanwhile Standish had noted the faces and figures of Indians


s: Peeping and creeping about from bush to tree in the forest,


s: Feigning to look for game, with arrows set on their bow-strings,


s: Swift and sudden and keen came a flight of feathery arrows,


s: Frightened the savages fled for shelter in swamp and in thicket,


s: Hotly pursued and beset; but their sachem, the brave Wattawamat,


s: Fled not; he was dead.  Unswerving and swift had a bullet


s: Filled the air with alarm, and the apprehension of danger.


s: Till his name had become a sound of fear to the nations.


s: Came like a rising tide, that encounters the rush of a river,


s: Staying its current awhile, but making it bitter and brackish.


s: Meanwhile Alden at home had built him a new habitation,


s: Oiled to admit the light, while wind and rain were excluded.


s: There too he dug a well, and around it planted an orchard:


s: Over the pastures he cropped, made fragrant by sweet pennyroyal.


s: How all the days of her life she will do him good, and not evil,


s: How she seeketh the wool and the flax and worketh with gladness,


s: How she layeth her hand to the spindle and holdeth the distaff,


s: How she is not afraid of the snow for herself or her household,


s: So as she sat at her wheel one afternoon in the Autumn,


s: Alden, who opposite sat, and was watching her dexterous fingers,


s: Suddenly you are transformed, are visibly changed in a moment;


s: You are no longer Priscilla, but Bertha the Beautiful Spinner."


s: She was so thrifty and good, that her name passed into a proverb.


s: Show yourself equally worthy of being the model of husbands.


s: Sometimes touching his hands, as she disentangled expertly


s: Twist or knot in the yarn, unawares--for how could she help it?--


s: Lo! in the midst of this scene, a breathless messenger entered,


s: Bringing in hurry and heat the terrible news from the village.


s: Into an ambush beguiled, cut off with the whole of his forces;


s: All the town would be burned, and all the people be murdered!


s: But John Alden, upstarting, as if the barb of the arrow


s: Wild with excess of sensation, the awful delight of his freedom,


s: Mingled with pain and regret, unconscious of what he was doing,


s: Clasped, almost with a groan, the motionless form of Priscilla,


s: Even as rivulets twain, from distant and separate sources,


s: Seeing each other afar, as they leap from the rocks, and pursuing


s: Rush together at last, at their trysting-place in the forest;


s: So these lives that had run thus far in separate channels,


s: Coming in sight of each other, then swerving and flowing asunder,


s: Rushed together at last, and one was lost in the other.


s: Round the hem of his robe the golden bells and pomegranates.


s: Blessing the world he came, and the bars of vapor beneath him


s: This was the wedding morn of Priscilla the Puritan maiden.


s: Friends were assembled together; the Elder and Magistrate also


s: Softly the youth and the maiden repeated the words of betrothal,


s: Fervently then, and devoutly, the excellent Elder of Plymouth


s: Lo! when the service was ended, a form appeared on the threshold,


s: Is it a phantom of air,--a bodiless, spectral illusion?


s: Over its clouded eyes there had passed at times an expression


s: Grows for a moment thin, and betrays the sun by its brightness.


s: Once it had lifted its hand, and moved its lips, but was silent,


s: As if an iron will had mastered the fleeting intention.


s: Gravely, and after the manner of old-fashioned gentry in England,


s: Then he said with a smile: "I should have remembered the adage,--


s: Than come again to a wedding to which he had not been invited.


s: Touched with autumnal tints, but lonely and sad in the sunshine,


s: Lay extended before them the land of toil and privation;


s: But to their eyes transfigured, it seemed as the Garden of Eden,


s: Covered with crimson cloth, and a cushion placed for a saddle.


s: "Nothing is wanting now," he said with a smile, "but the distaff;


s: Onward the bridal procession now moved to their new habitation,


s: Happy husband and wife, and friends conversing together.


s: Love immortal and young in the endless succession of lovers,


s: Facendo in aer di se lunga riga. -- DANTE


s: Swift birds of passage wing their flight


s: Murmurs of pleasures, and pains, and wrongs,


s: Of that flight through heavenly portals,


s: Through the cloud-rack, dark and trailing,


s: Words that whispered, songs that haunted!


s: What! are these the guests whose glances


s: Spectral gleam their snow-white dresses,


s: Struggling souls by thee are strengthened,


s: Truth from falsehood cleansed and sifted,


s: That have their root in thoughts of ill;


s: The heights by great men reached and kept


s: And at last their prayers were answered:--


s: That this was the mould of their vessel,


s: A mist was driving down the British Channel,


s: And through the window-panes, on floor and panel,


s: It glanced on flowing flag and rippling pennon,


s: And, from the frowning rampart, the black cannon


s: To see the French war-steamers speeding over,


s: Sullen and silent, and like couchant lions,


s: Holding their breath, had watched, in grim defiance,


s: And now they roared at drum-beat from their stations


s: Each answering each, with morning salutations,


s: And down the coast, all taking up the burden,


s: As if to summon from his sleep the Warden


s: Him shall no sunshine from the fields of azure,


s: No morning gun from the black fort's embrasure,


s: No more, surveying with an eye impartial


s: Shall the gaunt figure of the old Field Marshal


s: For in the night, unseen, a single warrior,


s: Dreaded of man, and surnamed the Destroyer,


s: He passed into the chamber of the sleeper,


s: And as he entered, darker grew, and deeper,


s: He did not pause to parley or dissemble,


s: Ah! what a blow! that made all England tremble


s: Meanwhile, without, the surly cannon waited,


s: All houses wherein men have lived and died


s: Are haunted houses.  Through the open doors


s: The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,


s: With feet that make no sound upon the floors.


s: We meet them at the door-way, on the stair,


s: There are more guests at table, than the hosts


s: Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,


s: The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear;


s: We have no title-deeds to house or lands;


s: From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands,


s: And hold in mortmain still their old estates.


s: The spirit-world around this world of sense


s: Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere


s: Wafts through these earthly mists and vapors dense


s: The struggle of the instinct that enjoys,


s: And the more noble instinct that aspires.


s: Come from the influence of an unseen star,


s: And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud


s: Throws o'er the sea a floating bridge of light,


s: Across whose trembling planks our fancies crowd


s: So from the world of spirits there descends


s: A bridge of light, connecting it with this,


s: O'er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,


s: Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.


s: No more she breathes, nor feels, nor stirs;


s: To find her failings, faults, and errors?


s: Cursed the Frenchmen, cursed the weather.


s: Two angels, one of Life and one of Death,


s: Passed o'er our village as the morning broke;


s: The dawn was on their faces, and beneath,


s: The sombre houses hearsed with plumes of smoke.


s: Their attitude and aspect were the same,


s: Alike their features and their robes of white;


s: But one was crowned with amaranth, as with flame,


s: And one with asphodels, like flakes of light.


s: I saw them pause on their celestial way;


s: Then said I, with deep fear and doubt oppressed,


s: "Beat not so loud, my heart, lest thou betray


s: The place where thy beloved are at rest!"


s: The waters sink before an earthquake's shock.


s: That oft before had filled or haunted me,


s: And now returned with threefold strength again.


s: And listened, for I thought I heard God's voice;


s: And, knowing whatsoe'er he sent was best,


s: Then with a smile, that filled the house with light,


s: "My errand is not Death, but Life," he said;


s: And ere I answered, passing out of sight,


s: 'T was at thy door, O friend! and not at mine,


s: Pausing, descended, and with voice divine,


s: Whispered a word that had a sound like Death.


s: Then fell upon the house a sudden gloom,


s: A shadow on those features fair and thin;


s: And softly, from that hushed and darkened room,


s: Two angels issued, where but one went in.


s: All is of God!  If he but wave his hand,


s: The mists collect, the rain falls thick and loud,


s: Till, with a smile of light on sea and land,


s: Lo! he looks back from the departing cloud.


s: Without his leave they pass no threshold o'er;


s: Who, then, would wish or dare, believing this,


s: Against his messengers to shut the door?


s: How strange it seems!  These Hebrews in their graves,


s: Close by the street of this fair seaport town,


s: The trees are white with dust, that o'er their sleep


s: Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind's breath,


s: While underneath such leafy tents they keep


s: And these sepulchral stones, so old and brown,


s: That pave with level flags their burial-place,


s: Seem like the tablets of the Law, thrown down


s: And broken by Moses at the mountain's base.


s: The very names recorded here are strange,


s: Of foreign accent, and of different climes;


s: The mourners said, "and Death is rest and peace";


s: "And giveth Life that never more shall cease."


s: Closed are the portals of their Synagogue,


s: No Psalms of David now the silence break,


s: In the grand dialect the Prophets spake.


s: Gone are the living, but the dead remain,


s: Scattering its bounty, like a summer rain,


s: Still keeps their graves and their remembrance green.


s: How came they here?  What burst of Christian hate,


s: Drove o'er the sea--that desert desolate--


s: They lived in narrow streets and lanes obscure,


s: Ghetto and Judenstrass, in mirk and mire;


s: Taught in the school of patience to endure


s: The life of anguish and the death of fire.


s: All their lives long, with the unleavened bread


s: And bitter herbs of exile and its fears,


s: The wasting famine of the heart they fed,


s: And slaked its thirst with marah of their tears.


s: That rang from town to town, from street to street;


s: Was mocked and jeered, and spurned by Christian feet.


s: Walked with them through the world where'er they went;


s: Trampled and beaten were they as the sand,


s: For in the background figures vague and vast


s: Of patriarchs and of prophets rose sublime,


s: And all the great traditions of the Past


s: The mystic volume of the world they read,


s: Spelling it backward, like a Hebrew book,


s: But ah! what once has been shall be no more!


s: The groaning earth in travail and in pain


s: Brings forth its races, but does not restore,


s: In the mist of the morning damp and gray,


s: These were the words they seemed to say:


s: He looked at the earth, he looked at the sky,


s: And he said, with a steady voice and eye,


s: Twelve fiery tongues flashed straight and red,


s: Falls to the ground, but he is not dead;


s: His name was not stamped on those balls of lead,


s: Three balls are in his breast and brain,


s: Forth dart once more those tongues of flame,


s: And the bugler has died a death of shame,


s: His soul has gone back to whence it came,


s: Through the mist of the valley damp and gray


s: The pleasant streets of that dear old town,


s: And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."


s: I can see the shadowy lines of its trees,


s: I remember the black wharves and the slips,


s: And the beauty and mystery of the ships,


s: In their graves, o'erlooking the tranquil bay,


s: And the friendships old and the early loves


s: Come back with a sabbath sound, as of doves


s: I remember the gleams and glooms that dart


s: That in part are prophecies, and in part


s: There are things of which I may not speak;


s: There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak,


s: And the trees that o'ershadow each well-known street,


s: And among the dreams of the days that were,


s: Leafless are the trees; their purple branches


s: Spread themselves abroad, like reefs of coral,


s: From the hundred chimneys of the village,


s: At the window winks the flickering fire-light;


s: Here and there the lamps of evening glimmer,


s: Answering one another through the darkness.


s: On the hearth the lighted logs are glowing,


s: Groans and sighs the air imprisoned in them.


s: By the fireside there are old men seated,


s: Of the Past what it can ne'er restore them.


s: By the fireside there are youthful dreamers,


s: Building castles fair, with stately stairways,


s: By the fireside there are peace and comfort,


s: Wives and children, with fair, thoughtful faces,


s: For a well-known footstep in the passage.


s: Each man's chimney is his Golden Mile-stone;


s: Is the central point, from which he measures


s: Through the gateways of the world around him.


s: In his farthest wanderings still he sees it;


s: Hears the talking flame, the answering night-wind,


s: When he sat with those who were, but are not.


s: Happy he whom neither wealth nor fashion,


s: From the hearth of his ancestral homestead.


s: Fill our rooms with paintings and with sculptures,


s: With a swarming and buzzing and humming.


s: And to praise it, one needs but name it;


s: It hailed the ships, and cried, "Sail on,


s: In your hearts are the birds and the sunshine,


s: What the birds and the winds are singing


s: From the hearts that are broken with losses,


s: And he gathers the prayers as he stands,


s: And they change into flowers in his hands,


s: And beneath the great arch of the portal,


s: Through the streets of the City Immortal


s: And the storm-wind shouts through the pines


s: On board of the cumberland, sloop-of-war;


s: And at times from the fortress across the bay


s: And we knew that the iron ship of our foes


s: Then comes a puff of smoke from her guns,


s: Next morn, as the sun rose over the bay,


s: Still floated our flag at the mainmast head.


s: Ho! brave hearts that went down in the seas


s: Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,


s: Suddenly shape in some divine expression,


s: Through every nerve, through every vein,


s: Blow, winds! and waft through all the rooms


s: Mine that so long has glowed and burned,


s: Direct from heaven, their source divine;


s: Gleamed red with fire-light through the leaves


s: Its torch-race scattering smoke and gleeds;


s: Their lines of stalls, their mows of hay,


s: Through the wide doors the breezes blow,


s: Shuddered and danced their dance of death,


s: And, though of different lands and speech,


s: His coat-of-arms, well framed and glazed,


s: With three wolf's heads, and for the crest


s: The scroll reads, "By the name of Howe."


s: To whom all tongues and lands were known


s: His hands were small; his teeth shone white


s: And, wildly tossed from cheeks and chin,


s: Accepts, but does not clutch, the crown!


s: Fair-haired, blue-eyed, his aspect blithe.


s: Of elves and sprites their dances whirled;


s: The scream of sea-birds in their flight,


s: Through mist and darkness pouring forth,


s: The music ceased; the applause was loud,


s: The wood-fire clapped its hands of flame,


s: On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;


s: He said to his friend, "If the British march


s: Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--


s: Through every Middlesex village and farm


s: For the country folk to be up and to arm,"


s: Then he said, "Good night!" and with muffled oar


s: Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,


s: And a huge black hulk, that was magnified


s: Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street,


s: The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,


s: And the measured tread of the grenadiers,


s: Marching down to their boats on the shore.


s: Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,


s: By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,


s: And startled the pigeons from their perch


s: On the sombre rafters, that round him made


s: Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,


s: That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,


s: Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread


s: Where the river widens to meet the bay,--


s: On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.


s: On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.


s: Now gazed at the landscape far and near,


s: And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;


s: The belfry-tower of the Old North Church,


s: As it rose above the graves on the hill,


s: Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.


s: And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height


s: He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,


s: But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight


s: A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,


s: And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark


s: Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet:


s: That was all!  And yet, through the gloom and the light,


s: The fate of a nation was riding that night;


s: And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,


s: Kindled the land into flame with its heat.


s: He has left the village and mounted the steep,


s: And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,


s: And under the alders, that skirt its edge,


s: Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,


s: Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.


s: When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.


s: And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,


s: At the bloody work they would look upon.


s: When he came to the bridge in Concord town.


s: And the twitter of birds among the trees,


s: And felt the breath of the morning breeze


s: Who at the bridge would be first to fall,


s: You know the rest.  In the books you have read,


s: How the British Regulars fired and fled,--


s: How the farmers gave them ball for ball,


s: From behind each fence and farm-yard wall,


s: Then crossing the fields to emerge again


s: Under the trees at the turn of the road,


s: And so through the night went his cry of alarm


s: A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,


s: For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,


s: In the hour of darkness and peril and need,


s: The people will waken and listen to hear


s: And the midnight message of Paul Revere.


s: The sword that hung there, dim with dust


s: And said, "This sword was in the fight."


s: All laughed; the Landlord's face grew red


s: The Landlord's wrath, the others' fears,


s: The words that rouse, the voice that charms.


s: And lisp of leaves, and fountain's fall,


s: Perchance may lose its power to please."


s: One summer morning, when the sun was hot,


s: On a rude bench beneath his cottage eaves,


s: Of a huge vine, that, with its arms outspread,


s: Below him, through the lovely valley flowed


s: And from its banks were lifted high in air


s: The spires and roofs of Florence called the Fair;


s: His wasted fortunes and his buried love.


s: For there, in banquet and in tournament,


s: His wealth had lavished been, his substance spent,


s: To woo and lose, since ill his wooing sped,


s: To this small farm, the last of his domain,


s: To prune his vines, and plant the fig and pear;


s: His falcon, faithful to him, when the rest,


s: Whose willing hands had found so light of yore


s: Had now no strength to lift the wooden latch,


s: That entrance gave beneath a roof of thatch.


s: The love with which his nature overflowed.


s: And so the empty-handed years went round,


s: Vacant, though voiceful with prophetic sound,


s: And so, that summer morn, he sat and mused


s: With folded, patient hands, as he was used,


s: And dreamily before his half-closed sight


s: Dreamed of the chase, and in his slumber heard


s: The sudden, scythe-like sweep of wings, that dare


s: The headlong plunge thro' eddying gulfs of air,


s: Then, starting broad awake upon his perch,


s: Tinkled his bells, like mass-bells in a church,


s: And, looking at his master, seemed to say,


s: Herself, yet not herself; a lovely child


s: With flowing tresses, and eyes wide and wild,


s: And looking not at him, but at the hawk.


s: "Beautiful falcon!" said he, "would that I


s: Might hold thee on my wrist, or see thee fly!"


s: The voice was hers, and made strange echoes start


s: Through all the haunted chambers of his heart,


s: "Who is thy mother, my fair boy?" he said,


s: His hand laid softly on that shining head.


s: A little while, and with your falcon play?


s: We live there, just beyond your garden wall,


s: In the great house behind the poplars tall."


s: And drifted onward through the golden gleams


s: As mariners becalmed through vapors drift,


s: And feel the sea beneath them sink and lift,


s: And hear far off the mournful breakers roar,


s: And voices calling faintly from the shore!


s: And told him stories of his gallant bird,


s: Till in their friendship he became a third.


s: Had come with friends to pass the summer time


s: In her grand villa, half-way up the hill,


s: O'erlooking Florence, but retired and still;


s: With iron gates, that opened through long lines


s: And terraced gardens, and broad steps of stone,


s: And sylvan deities, with moss o'ergrown,


s: And all Val d'Arno stretched beneath its feet.


s: Herself the stateliest statue among all,


s: And seeing more and more, with secret joy,


s: Her husband risen and living in her boy,


s: Till the lost sense of life returned again,


s: Not as delight, but as relief from pain.


s: Meanwhile the boy, rejoicing in his strength,


s: Stormed down the terraces from length to length;


s: The screaming peacock chased in hot pursuit,


s: And climbed the garden trellises for fruit.


s: But his chief pastime was to watch the flight


s: Beyond the trees that fringed the garden wall,


s: Then downward stooping at some distant call;


s: Master and falcon in the cottage ground.


s: On the great house, as if a passing-bell


s: Tolled from the tower, and filled each spacious room


s: With secret awe, and preternatural gloom;


s: The mother's heart would not be comforted;


s: And often, sitting by the sufferer's side,


s: "What can I do to comfort thee?" she cried.


s: But moved at length by her importunate cry,


s: "Give me," he answered, with imploring tone,


s: No answer could the astonished mother make;


s: How could she ask, e'en for her darling's sake,


s: Well knowing that to ask was to command?


s: Well knowing, what all falconers confessed,


s: In all the land that falcon was the best,


s: The master's pride and passion and delight,


s: And the sole pursuivant of this poor knight.


s: But yet, for her child's sake, she could no less


s: Than give assent to soothe his restlessness,


s: Her promise sacred, saw him fall asleep.


s: There was that nameless splendor everywhere,


s: Which makes the passers in the city street


s: Two lovely ladies, clothed in cloak and hood,


s: Passed through the garden gate into the wood,


s: Under the lustrous leaves, and through the sheen


s: Of dewy sunshine showering down between.


s: The one, close-hooded, had the attractive grace


s: Which sorrow sometimes lends a woman's face;


s: Her dark eyes moistened with the mists that roll


s: From the gulf-stream of passion in the soul;


s: The other with her hood thrown back, her hair


s: Her cheeks suffused with an auroral blush,


s: Her young heart singing louder than the thrush.


s: So walked, that morn, through mingled light and shade,


s: Each by the other's presence lovelier made,


s: Like banished Adam, delving in the soil;


s: And when he looked and these fair women spied,


s: And the strange river winding through the plain


s: For past unkindness.  I who ne'er before


s: Would even cross the threshold of your door,


s: I who in happier days such pride maintained,


s: Refused your banquets, and your gifts disdained,


s: This morning come, a self-invited guest,


s: To put your generous nature to the test,


s: And breakfast with you under your own vine."


s: To which he answered: "Poor desert of mine,


s: Not your unkindness call it, for if aught


s: From you it comes, and this last grace outweighs


s: All sorrows, all regrets of other days."


s: He left his guests; and to his cottage turned,


s: For the lost splendors of the days of old,


s: The ruby glass, the silver and the gold,


s: And felt how piercing is the sting of pride,


s: He looked about him for some means or way


s: Searched every cupboard, and then searched again,


s: Summoned the maid, who came, but came in vain;


s: "The Signor did not hunt to-day," she said,


s: "There's nothing in the house but wine and bread."


s: His little bells, with that sagacious look,


s: Which said, as plain as language to the ear,


s: Yes, everything is wanting, gallant bird!


s: The master seized thee without further word.


s: Like thine own lure, he whirled thee round; ah me!


s: The bells, the jesses, the bright scarlet hood,


s: The flight and the pursuit o'er field and wood,


s: Then on the board a snow-white cloth he spread,


s: Laid on its wooden dish the loaf of bread,


s: Brought purple grapes with autumn sunshine hot,


s: Then in the midst a flask of wine he placed,


s: And with autumnal flowers the banquet graced.


s: Without thy falcon stuffed with cloves and spice?


s: When all was ready, and the courtly dame


s: The room they entered, mean and low and small,


s: Was changed into a sumptuous banquet-hall,


s: The rustic chair she sat on was a throne;


s: And the poor falcon, fragrant with his spice,


s: Then said the lady, "Far too well I know


s: Though you betray it not with what surprise


s: You have no children, and you cannot guess


s: A mother feels, whose child is lying ill,


s: And ask the thing most precious in your sight,


s: Your falcon, your sole comfort and delight,


s: Which if you find it in your heart to give,


s: My poor, unhappy boy perchance may live."


s: With tears of love and pity in his eyes:


s: This wish of yours, it would have been my own.


s: But thinking in what manner I could best


s: Than what most dear and precious was to me,


s: And so my gallant falcon breathed his last


s: To furnish forth this morning our repast."


s: In mute contrition, mingled with dismay,


s: Grieving that he such sacrifice should make,


s: Yet feeling in her heart a woman's pride,


s: That nothing she could ask for was denied;


s: Then took her leave, and passed out at the gate


s: With footstep slow and soul disconsolate.


s: Three days went by, and lo! a passing-bell


s: Tolled from the little chapel in the dell;


s: Ten strokes Ser Federigo heard, and said,


s: Breathing a prayer, "Alas! her child is dead!"


s: Three months went by; and lo! a merrier chime


s: Rang from the chapel bells at Christmas time;


s: In the grand villa, half-way up the hill,


s: Sat at the Christmas feast, and at his side


s: Enthroned once more in the old rustic chair,


s: High-perched upon the back of which there stood


s: And underneath the inscription, with date,


s: "All things come round to him who will but wait."


s: One should not say, with too much pride,


s: And fills my heart, and haunts my brain,


s: "No man shall look upon my face and live."


s: And as he read, he prayed that God would give


s: His faithful servant grace with mortal eye


s: And, lifting up his eyes, grown dim with age


s: He saw the Angel of Death before him stand,


s: Holding a naked sword in his right hand.


s: Yet through his veins a chill of terror ran.


s: With trembling voice he said, "What wilt thou here?"


s: The angel answered, "Lo! the time draws near


s: When thou must die; yet first, by God's decree,


s: Whate'er thou askest shall be granted thee."


s: Replied the Rabbi, "Let these living eyes


s: Then said the Angel, "Come with me and look."


s: And rising, and uplifting his gray head,


s: "Give me thy sword," he to the Angel said,


s: "Lest thou shouldst fall upon me by the way."


s: Then led him forth to the Celestial Town,


s: And set him on the wall, whence, gazing down,


s: The Rabbi leaped with the Death-Angel's sword,


s: And through the streets there swept a sudden breath


s: Of something there unknown, which men call death.


s: Meanwhile the Angel stayed without and cried,


s: "Come back!"  To which the Rabbi's voice replied,


s: I swear that hence I will depart no more!"


s: See what the son of Levi here hath done!


s: The kingdom of Heaven he takes by violence,


s: The Lord replied, "My Angels, be not wroth;


s: Did e'er the son of Levi break his oath?


s: Shall look upon my face and yet not die."


s: Beyond the outer wall the Angel of Death


s: Heard the great voice, and said, with panting breath,


s: "Give back the sword, and let me go my way."


s: Whereat the Rabbi paused, and answered, "Nay!


s: Among the sons of men."  And while he paused


s: Resounding through the air, "Give back the sword!"


s: The Rabbi bowed his head in silent prayer;


s: Then said he to the dreadful Angel, "Swear,


s: But when thou takest away the souls of men,


s: Thyself unseen, and with an unseen sword,


s: Thou wilt perform the bidding of the Lord."


s: The Angel took the sword again, and swore,


s: Had touched the deep, mysterious chords,


s: Robert of Sicily, brother of Pope Urbane


s: With retinue of many a knight and squire,


s: On St. John's eve, at vespers, proudly sat


s: And heard the priests chant the Magnificat,


s: "What mean these words?"  The clerk made answer meet,


s: "He has put down the mighty from their seat,


s: Thereat King Robert muttered scornfully,


s: "'T is well that such seditious words are sung


s: Only by priests and in the Latin tongue;


s: For unto priests and people be it known,


s: There is no power can push me from my throne!"


s: And leaning back, he yawned and fell asleep,


s: Lulled by the chant monotonous and deep.


s: The church was empty, and there was no light,


s: Save where the lamps, that glimmered few and faint,


s: Lighted a little space before some saint.


s: He started from his seat and gazed around,


s: But saw no living thing and heard no sound.


s: He groped towards the door, but it was locked;


s: He cried aloud, and listened, and then knocked,


s: And uttered awful threatenings and complaints,


s: The sounds re-echoed from the roof and walls


s: As if dead priests were laughing in their stalls.


s: At length the sexton, hearing from without


s: The tumult of the knocking and the shout,


s: And thinking thieves were in the house of prayer,


s: Came with his lantern, asking, "Who is there?"


s: Half choked with rage, King Robert fiercely said,


s: "Open: 'tis I, the King!  Art thou afraid?"


s: The frightened sexton, muttering, with a curse,


s: "This is some drunken vagabond, or worse!"


s: Turned the great key and flung the portal wide;


s: Haggard, half naked, without hat or cloak,


s: Who neither turned, nor looked at him, nor spoke,


s: But leaped into the blackness of the night,


s: And vanished like a spectre from his sight.


s: Robert of Sicily, brother of Pope Urbane


s: Bareheaded, breathless, and besprent with mire,


s: With sense of wrong and outrage desperate,


s: Strode on and thundered at the palace gate;


s: Rushed through the courtyard, thrusting in his rage


s: To right and left each seneschal and page,


s: And hurried up the broad and sounding stair,


s: His white face ghastly in the torches' glare.


s: From hall to hall he passed with breathless speed;


s: Voices and cries he heard, but did not heed,


s: Until at last he reached the banquet-room,


s: Blazing with light and breathing with perfume.


s: Wearing his robes, his crown, his signet-ring,


s: King Robert's self in features, form, and height,


s: But all transfigured with angelic light!


s: With a divine effulgence filled the air,


s: A moment speechless, motionless, amazed,


s: The throneless monarch on the Angel gazed,


s: Then said, "Who art thou? and why com'st thou here?"


s: To which King Robert answered, with a sneer,


s: "I am the King, and come to claim my own


s: From an impostor, who usurps my throne!"


s: Up sprang the angry guests, and drew their swords;


s: The Angel answered, with unruffled brow,


s: "Nay, not the King, but the King's Jester, thou


s: Henceforth shall wear the bells and scalloped cape,


s: And for thy counsellor shalt lead an ape;


s: Thou shalt obey my servants when they call,


s: Deaf to King Robert's threats and cries and prayers,


s: They thrust him from the hall and down the stairs;


s: And as they opened wide the folding door,


s: His heart failed, for he heard, with strange alarms,


s: The boisterous laughter of the men-at-arms,


s: And all the vaulted chamber roar and ring


s: With the mock plaudits of "Long live the King!"


s: Next morning, waking with the day's first beam,


s: He said within himself, "It was a dream!"


s: But the straw rustled as he turned his head,


s: There were the cap and bells beside his bed,


s: Around him rose the bare, discolored walls,


s: Close by, the steeds were champing in their stalls,


s: Shivering and chattering sat the wretched ape.


s: It was no dream; the world he loved so much


s: Had turned to dust and ashes at his touch!


s: Days came and went; and now returned again


s: The happy island danced with corn and wine,


s: And deep within the mountain's burning breast


s: Meanwhile King Robert yielded to his fate,


s: Dressed in the motley garb that Jesters wear,


s: With look bewildered and a vacant stare,


s: Close shaven above the ears, as monks are shorn,


s: By courtiers mocked, by pages laughed to scorn,


s: What others left,--he still was unsubdued.


s: And half in earnest, half in jest, would say


s: Sternly, though tenderly, that he might feel


s: The velvet scabbard held a sword of steel,


s: "Art thou the King?" the passion of his woe


s: And, lifting high his forehead, he would fling


s: The haughty answer back, "I am, I am the King!"


s: Almost three years were ended; when there came


s: Unto King Robert, saying that Pope Urbane


s: By letter summoned them forthwith to come


s: The Angel with great joy received his guests,


s: And gave them presents of embroidered vests,


s: And velvet mantles with rich ermine lined,


s: Whose loveliness was more resplendent made


s: With plumes, and cloaks, and housings, and the stir


s: And lo! among the menials, in mock state,


s: Upon a piebald steed, with shambling gait,


s: His cloak of fox-tails flapping in the wind,


s: In all the country towns through which they went.


s: The Pope received them with great pomp and blare


s: Of bannered trumpets, on Saint Peter's square,


s: While with congratulations and with prayers


s: Robert, the Jester, bursting through the crowd,


s: Into their presence rushed, and cried aloud,


s: This man, who wears my semblance to your eyes,


s: Do you not know me? does no voice within


s: The Pope in silence, but with troubled mien,


s: Gazed at the Angel's countenance serene;


s: The Emperor, laughing, said, "It is strange sport


s: To keep a mad man for thy Fool at court!"


s: And the poor, baffled Jester in disgrace


s: The presence of the Angel, with its light,


s: Before the sun rose, made the city bright,


s: And with new fervor filled the hearts of men,


s: Who felt that Christ indeed had risen again.


s: With haggard eyes the unwonted splendor saw,


s: And, kneeling humbly on his chamber floor,


s: He heard the rushing garments of the Lord


s: Sweep through the silent air, ascending heavenward.


s: Valmond returning to the Danube's shore,


s: The land was made resplendent with his train,


s: And when once more within Palermo's wall,


s: And, seated on the throne in his great hall,


s: He heard the Angelus from convent towers,


s: As if the better world conversed with ours,


s: He beckoned to King Robert to draw nigher,


s: And with a gesture bade the rest retire;


s: And when they were alone, the Angel said,


s: "Art thou the King?"  Then, bowing down his head,


s: King Robert crossed both hands upon his breast,


s: And meekly answered him: "Thou knowest best!


s: My sins as scarlet are; let me go hence,


s: And in some cloister's school of penitence,


s: Across those stones, that pave the way to heaven,


s: Walk barefoot, till my guilty soul be shriven!"


s: The Angel smiled, and from his radiant face


s: And through the open window, loud and clear,


s: They heard the monks chant in the chapel near,


s: Above the stir and tumult of the street:


s: "He has put down the mighty from their seat,


s: Rose like the throbbing of a single string:


s: King Robert, who was standing near the throne,


s: With ermined mantle and with cloth of gold;


s: And when his courtiers came, they found him there


s: Kneeling upon the floor, absorbed in, silent prayer.


s: Through the red flames o'er him trailing,


s: Through field and forest, through thorp and town!"


s: Neither shall shame nor death come near thee!


s: But the hiding-place wherein thou must lie


s: Is the cave underneath the swine in the sty."


s: So Hakon Jarl and his base thrall Karker


s: Crouched in the cave, than a dungeon darker,


s: Through the breathing-holes of the darksome cave.


s: Said Karker, the crafty, "I will not slay thee!


s: For all the king's gold I will never betray thee!"


s: "Then why dost thou turn so pale, O churl,


s: And then again black as the earth?" said the Earl.


s: From a dream in the night the thrall started, saying,


s: "Round my neck a gold ring King Olaf was laying!"


s: And Hakon answered, "Beware of the king!


s: He will lay round thy neck a blood-red ring."


s: At daybreak slept Hakon, with sorrows encumbered,


s: But screamed and drew up his feet as he slumbered;


s: The thrall in the darkness plunged with his knife,


s: And the Earl awakened no more in this life.


s: At Nidarholm the priests are all singing,


s: Two ghastly heads on the gibbet are swinging;


s: One is Jarl Hakon's and one is his thrall's,


s: And the people are shouting from windows and walls;


s: Queen Sigrid the Haughty sat proud and aloft


s: In her chamber, that looked over meadow and croft.


s: The floor with tassels of fir was besprent,


s: Filling the room with their fragrant scent.


s: She heard the birds sing, she saw the sun shine,


s: The air of summer was sweeter than wine.


s: Like a sword without scabbard the bright river lay


s: But Olaf the King had sued for her hand,


s: The sword would be sheathed, the river be spanned.


s: Her maidens were seated around her knee,


s: Of Brynhilda's love and the wrath of Gudrun.


s: And through it, and round it, and over it all


s: The Queen in her hand held a ring of gold,


s: King Olaf had sent her this wedding gift,


s: But her thoughts as arrows were keen and swift.


s: She had given the ring to her goldsmiths twain,


s: Who smiled, as they handed it back again.


s: And Sigrid the Queen, in her haughty way,


s: Said, "Why do you smile, my goldsmiths, say?"


s: And they answered: "O Queen! if the truth must be told,


s: The ring is of copper, and not of gold!"


s: The lightning flashed o'er her forehead and cheek,


s: There will be no gold in his love to me."


s: A footstep was heard on the outer stair,


s: He kissed the Queen's hand, and he whispered of love,


s: And swore to be true as the stars are above.


s: But she smiled with contempt as she answered: "O King,


s: Will you swear it, as Odin once swore, on the ring?"


s: And the King: "O speak not of Odin to me,


s: The wife of King Olaf a Christian must be."


s: Looking straight at the King, with her level brows,


s: She said, "I keep true to my faith and my vows."


s: Then the face of King Olaf was darkened with gloom,


s: He rose in his anger and strode through the room.


s: "Why, then, should I care to have thee?" he said,--


s: His zeal was stronger than fear or love,


s: And he struck the Queen in the face with his glove.


s: Then forth from the chamber in anger he fled,


s: And the wooden stairway shook with his tread.


s: Queen Sigrid the Haughty said under her breath,


s: "This insult, King Olaf, shall be thy death!"


s: Round the house where they were sleeping.


s: Streamed with one broad track of splendor!


s: "Who are these strange people?" said he.


s: The guests were loud, the ale was strong,


s: The door swung wide, with creak and din;


s: The foaming draught the old man quaffed,


s: Night wanes, O King! 't is time for sleep!"


s: Sending his signal through the land of Drontheim.


s: With their war weapons ready to confront him.


s: Heard the summons, chuckling with a low laugh.


s: And clattering came on horseback to King Olaf.


s: Bitter as home-brewed ale were his foaming passions.


s: He hated the narrow town, and all its fashions.


s: Gudrun his daughter, with her flaxen tresses.


s: The smell of the earth, and the song of birds,


s: His well-filled barns, his brook with its water-cresses.


s: Frosty and fierce, like that of Hymer the Giant.


s: That tossed about him like a stormy ocean:


s: As other kings have done in their devotion!"


s: Here is my Bishop who the folk baptizes!


s: Of his men-at-arms and the peasants fiercely fighting.


s: And other gods, with Thor supreme among them.


s: And downward shattered to the pavement flung them.


s: A mingled sound of triumph and of wailing.


s: Midway between the assailed and the assailing.


s: To be baptized or given up to slaughter!"


s: "O King, baptize us with thy holy water";


s: In the old gods no more believing and trusting.


s: And thus in peace ended the Drontheim Hus-Ting!


s: "Forests have ears, and fields have eyes;


s: As the leaves are swept through sluices,


s: Till at last they reached Raud's dwelling


s: Drunken with sleep and ale they found him,


s: Southward sailed the sea-gulls o'er him,


s: Southward sailed the ship that bore him,


s: They smote with their fists on the board,


s: Then he chipped and smoothed the planking,


s: Then they launched her from the tressels,


s: How they roared through Drontheim's street,


s: How they laughed and stamped and pounded,


s: Never, while they cruised and quarrelled,


s: They say, that through heat and through cold,


s: Through weald, they say, and through wold,


s: So that neither should turn and retreat;


s: In front came Svend, the King of the Danes,


s: To the right, the Swedish king with his thanes;


s: "These soft Danes and Swedes," said the King,


s: "At home with their wives had better stay,


s: Than come within reach of my Serpent's sting:


s: With which King Olaf's ships were lashed,


s: See her sailors come back o'er the main;


s: And the stones they hurl with their hands.


s: In the midst of the stones and the spears,


s: I hear the prayer, with words that scorch


s: The raiment white, the crown, the throne,


s: Ruled them, as Grand Inquisitor of Spain,


s: Moated and high and by fair woodlands hid,


s: There dwelt as from the chronicles we learn,


s: Whose name has perished, with his towers of stone,


s: And all his actions save this one alone;


s: This one, so terrible, perhaps 't were best


s: If it, too, were forgotten with the rest;


s: Unless, perchance, our eyes can see therein


s: A double picture, with its gloom and glow,


s: This sombre man counted each day as lost


s: On which his feet no sacred threshold crossed;


s: And when he chanced the passing Host to meet,


s: He knelt and prayed devoutly in the street;


s: Oft he confessed; and with each mutinous thought,


s: As with wild beasts at Ephesus, he fought.


s: In deep contrition scourged himself in Lent,


s: Walked in processions, with his head down bent,


s: At plays of Corpus Christi oft was seen,


s: And on Palm Sunday bore his bough of green.


s: Through tangled thickets of the forest hoar,


s: Or with his jingling mules to hurry down


s: To some grand bull-fight in the neighboring town,


s: Or in the crowd with lighted taper stand,


s: Then stirred within him a tumultuous joy;


s: Shook him, and shouted with a trumpet tone,


s: Kill! kill! and let the Lord find out his own!"


s: And now, in that old castle in the wood,


s: His daughters, in the dawn of womanhood,


s: Returning from their convent school, had made


s: Resplendent with their bloom the forest shade,


s: Reminding him of their dead mother's face,


s: When first she came into that gloomy place,--


s: Where the same rays, that lift the sea, are thrown


s: Lovely but powerless upon walls of stone.


s: These two fair daughters of a mother dead


s: Were all the dream had left him as it fled.


s: A joy at first, and then a growing care,


s: Like ghostly footsteps in a vacant room,


s: Haunted him day and night; a formless fear


s: That death to some one of his house was near,


s: Made life itself a death before its time.


s: Jealous, suspicious, with no sense of shame,


s: With velvet slippers, noiseless on the floors,


s: He glided softly through half-open doors;


s: Now in the room, and now upon the stair,


s: He stood beside them ere they were aware;


s: He listened in the passage when they talked,


s: He watched them from the casement when they walked,


s: He saw the monk among the cork-trees glide;


s: And, tortured by the mystery and the doubt


s: Of some dark secret, past his finding out,


s: Pursued the flying phantom of his brain.


s: He watched them even when they knelt in church;


s: And then, descending lower in his search,


s: Questioned the servants, and with eager eyes


s: The monk? a mendicant in search of food!


s: Crushing at once his pride of birth and name;


s: The hopes his yearning bosom forward cast,


s: All fell together, crumbling in disgrace,


s: His daughters talking in the dead of night


s: In their own chamber, and without a light,


s: Listening, as he was wont, he overheard,


s: And learned the dreadful secret, word by word;


s: And hurrying from his castle, with a cry


s: He raised his hands to the unpitying sky,


s: Repeating one dread word, till bush and tree


s: Caught it, and shuddering answered, "Heresy!"


s: Wrapped in his cloak, his hat drawn o'er his face,


s: Now hurrying forward, now with lingering pace,


s: He walked all night the alleys of his park,


s: And by his presence turned his love to hate,


s: "Kill! kill! and let the Lord find out his own!"


s: While yet the dew was glistening on the grass,


s: And all the woods were musical with birds,


s: The old Hidalgo, uttering fearful words,


s: Walked homeward with the Priest, and in his room


s: Summoned his trembling daughters to their doom.


s: When questioned, with brief answers they replied,


s: All that the human heart most fears or feels,


s: In vain the Priest with earnest voice essayed;


s: In vain the father threatened, wept, and prayed;


s: Until at last he said, with haughty mien,


s: "The Holy Office, then, must intervene!"


s: With all the fifty horsemen of his train,


s: His awful name resounding, like the blast


s: Of funeral trumpets, as he onward passed,


s: To him the Hidalgo went, and at the gate


s: Dressed in the hood and habit of a friar;


s: Out of his eyes flashed a consuming fire,


s: And in his hand the mystic horn he held,


s: Which poison and all noxious charms dispelled.


s: Then answered in a voice that made him quail:


s: The Holy Church expects of thee no less!"


s: A sacred frenzy seized the father's brain,


s: And Mercy from that hour implored in vain.


s: Ah! who will e'er believe the words I say?


s: His daughters he accused, and the same day


s: They both were cast into the dungeon's gloom,


s: Arraigned, condemned, and sentenced to the flame,


s: The secret torture and the public shame.


s: The Hidalgo went, more eager than before,


s: And said: "When Abraham offered up his son,


s: He clave the wood wherewith it might be done.


s: And the deep voice, without a pause, replied:


s: "Son of the Church! by faith now justified,


s: Complete thy sacrifice, even as thou wilt;


s: The Church absolves thy conscience from all guilt!"


s: Then this most wretched father went his way


s: Into the woods, that round his castle lay,


s: Where once his daughters in their childhood played


s: With their young mother in the sun and shade.


s: Now all the leaves had fallen; the branches bare


s: And screaming from their eyries overhead


s: The ravens sailed athwart the sky of lead.


s: With his own hands he lopped the boughs and bound


s: With bells and tassels, sent them on their way.


s: Then with his mind on one dark purpose bent,


s: And now, lest my atonement be as naught,


s: Grant me one more request, one last desire,--


s: With my own hand to light the funeral fire!"


s: "Son of the Church!  Thine offering is complete;


s: Her servants through all ages shall not cease


s: The scaffold rose, whereon Death claimed his own.


s: Four statues of the Hebrew Prophets stood,


s: Gazing with calm indifference in their eyes


s: Round which was gathering fast the eager crowd,


s: With clamor of voices dissonant and loud,


s: With restless gazers, swarming like a hive.


s: The church-bells tolled, the chant of monks drew near,


s: Loud trumpets stammered forth their notes of fear,


s: A line of torches smoked along the street,


s: There was a stir, a rush, a tramp of feet,


s: And, with its banners floating in the air,


s: Slowly the long procession crossed the square,


s: And, to the statues of the Prophets bound,


s: Then all the air a blast of trumpets shook,


s: And louder sang the monks with bell and book,


s: And the Hidalgo, lofty, stern, and proud,


s: Lifted his torch, and, bursting through the crowd,


s: Lest those imploring eyes should strike him dead!


s: O pitiless skies! why did your clouds retain


s: For peasants' fields their floods of hoarded rain?


s: That night a mingled column of fire and smoke


s: Prom the dark thickets of the forest broke,


s: And, glaring o'er the landscape leagues away,


s: Made all the fields and hamlets bright as day.


s: Wrapped in a sheet of flame the castle blazed,


s: They saw the figure of that cruel knight


s: Lean from a window in the turret's height,


s: His ghastly face illumined with the glare,


s: His hands upraised above his head in prayer,


s: Till the floor sank beneath him, and he fell


s: Down the black hollow of that burning well.


s: Three centuries and more above his bones


s: Have piled the oblivious years like funeral stones;


s: His name has perished with him, and no trace


s: But Torquemada's name, with clouds o'ercast,


s: Looms in the distant landscape of the Past,


s: Like a burnt tower upon a blackened heath,


s: Lit by the fires of burning woods beneath!


s: Thus closed the tale of guilt and gloom,


s: Their wrongs and sufferings and disgrace;


s: It was the season, when through all the land


s: The merle and mavis build, and building sing


s: Those lovely lyrics, written by His hand,


s: Whom Saxon Caedmon calls the Blitheheart King;


s: When on the boughs the purple buds expand,


s: The banners of the vanguard of the Spring,


s: And wave their fluttering signals from the steep.


s: The robin and the bluebird, piping loud,


s: Filled all the blossoming orchards with their glee;


s: The sparrows chirped as if they still were proud


s: Their race in Holy Writ should mentioned be;


s: Clamored their piteous prayer incessantly,


s: Knowing who hears the ravens cry, and said:


s: "Give us, O Lord, this day our daily bread!"


s: Across the Sound the birds of passage sailed,


s: Speaking some unknown language strange and sweet


s: Of tropic isle remote, and passing hailed


s: The village with the cheers of all their fleet;


s: Or quarrelling together, laughed and railed


s: Like foreign sailors, landed in the street


s: Of seaport town, and with outlandish noise


s: Of oaths and gibberish frightening girls and boys.


s: Thus came the jocund Spring in Killingworth,


s: In fabulous day; some hundred years ago;


s: And thrifty farmers, as they tilled the earth,


s: Heard with alarm the cawing of the crow,


s: They shook their heads, and doomed with dreadful words


s: To swift destruction the whole race of birds.


s: And a town-meeting was convened straightway


s: Of these marauders, who, in lieu of pay,


s: And cornfields, and beheld without dismay


s: The awful scarecrow, with his fluttering shreds;


s: The skeleton that waited at their feast,


s: Whereby their sinful pleasure was increased.


s: Then from his house, a temple painted white,


s: The Squire came forth, august and splendid sight!


s: Three flights of steps, nor looking left nor right,


s: Down the long street he walked, as one who said,


s: The Parson, too, appeared, a man austere,


s: The instinct of whose nature was to kill;


s: The wrath of God he preached from year to year,


s: And read, with fervor, Edwards on the Will;


s: His favorite pastime was to slay the deer


s: E'en now, while walking down the rural lane,


s: He lopped the wayside lilies with his cane.


s: The hill of Science with its vane of brass,


s: Now at the clouds, and now at the green grass,


s: And next the Deacon issued from his door,


s: In his voluminous neck-cloth, white as snow;


s: His form was ponderous, and his step was slow;


s: He seemed the incarnate "Well, I told you so!"


s: There was a street named after him in town.


s: These came together in the new town-hall,


s: With sundry farmers from the region round.


s: The Squirt presided, dignified and tall,


s: His air impressive and his reasoning sound;


s: Ill fared it with the birds, both great and small;


s: Hardly a friend in all that crowd they found,


s: Charged them with all the crimes beneath the sun.


s: When they had ended, from his place apart,


s: Rose the Preceptor, to redress the wrong,


s: And, trembling like a steed before the start,


s: Looked round bewildered on the expectant throng;


s: Then thought of fair Almira, and took heart


s: To speak out what was in him, clear and strong,


s: Alike regardless of their smile or frown,


s: And quite determined not to be laughed down.


s: The Poets; in this little town of yours,


s: You put to death, by means of a Committee,


s: The street-musicians of the heavenly city,


s: The birds, who make sweet music for us all


s: In our dark hours, as David did for Saul.


s: "The thrush that carols at the dawn of day


s: From the green steeples of the piny wood;


s: The bluebird balanced on some topmost spray,


s: Linnet and meadow-lark, and all the throng


s: That dwell in nests, and have the gift of song.


s: "You slay them all! and wherefore! for the gain


s: Of a scant handful more or less of wheat,


s: Scratched up at random by industrious feet,


s: Searching for worm or weevil after rain!


s: Or a few cherries, that are not so sweet


s: As are the songs these uninvited guests,


s: Sing at their feast with comfortable breasts.


s: "Do you ne'er think what wondrous beings these?


s: Do you ne'er think who made them and who taught


s: Whose household words are songs in many keys,


s: Sweeter than instrument of man e'er caught!


s: Are half-way houses on the road to heaven!


s: "Think, every morning when the sun peeps through


s: The dim, leaf-latticed windows of the grove,


s: And when you think of this, remember too


s: 'T is always morning somewhere, and above


s: The awakening continent; from shore to shore,


s: Somewhere the birds are singing evermore.


s: "Think of your woods and orchards without birds!


s: Of empty nests that cling to boughs and beams


s: Hang empty 'mid the cobwebs of his dreams!


s: Will bleat of flocks or bellowing of herds


s: Make up for the lost music, when your teams


s: Drag home the stingy harvest, and no more


s: The feathered gleaners follow to your door?


s: "What! would you rather see the incessant stir


s: Is this more pleasant to you than the whir


s: Of meadow-lark, and her sweet roundelay,


s: Or twitter of little field-fares, as you take


s: Your nooning in the shade of bush and brake?


s: "You call them thieves and pillagers; but know,


s: They are the winged wardens of your farms,


s: Who from the cornfields drive the insidious foe,


s: And from your harvests keep a hundred harms;


s: Even the blackest of them all, the crow,


s: Renders good service as your man-at-arms,


s: Crushing the beetle in his coat of mail,


s: "How can I teach your children gentleness,


s: For Life, which, in its weakness or excess,


s: Or Death, which, seeming darkness, is no less


s: The selfsame light, although averted hence,


s: When by your laws, your actions, and your speech,


s: You contradict the very things I teach?"


s: With this he closed; and through the audience went


s: A murmur, like the rustle of dead leaves;


s: The farmers laughed and nodded, and some bent


s: Their yellow heads together like their sheaves;


s: Men have no faith in fine-spun sentiment


s: Who put their trust in bullocks and in beeves.


s: The birds were doomed; and, as the record shows,


s: A bounty offered for the heads of crows.


s: There was another audience out of reach,


s: Who had no voice nor vote in making laws,


s: But in the papers read his little speech,


s: And crowned his modest temples with applause;


s: They made him conscious, each one more than each,


s: He still was victor, vanquished in their cause.


s: Sweetest of all the applause he won from thee,


s: O'er fields and orchards, and o'er woodland crests,


s: Dead fell the birds, with blood-stains on their breasts,


s: Or wounded crept away from sight of man,


s: While the young died of famine in their nests;


s: A slaughter to be told in groans, not words,


s: The Summer came, and all the birds were dead;


s: The days were like hot coals; the very ground


s: Was burned to ashes; in the orchards fed


s: Hosts of devouring insects crawled, and found


s: No foe to check their march, till they had made


s: The land a desert without leaf or shade.


s: Devoured by worms, like Herod, was the town,


s: Slaughtered the Innocents.  From the trees spun down


s: Upon each woman's bonnet, shawl, and gown,


s: Who shook them off with just a little cry


s: They were the terror of each favorite walk,


s: The endless theme of all the village talk.


s: Confessed their error, and would not complain,


s: For after all, the best thing one can do


s: Then they repealed the law, although they knew


s: It would not call the dead to life again;


s: As school-boys, finding their mistake too late,


s: Draw a wet sponge across the accusing slate.


s: That year in Killingworth the Autumn came


s: The wonder of the falling tongues of flame,


s: The illumined pages of his Doom's-Day book.


s: A few lost leaves blushed crimson with their shame,


s: And drowned themselves despairing in the brook,


s: While the wild wind went moaning everywhere,


s: But the next Spring a stranger sight was seen,


s: A sight that never yet by bard was sung,


s: Upon whose boughs were wicker cages hung,


s: All full of singing birds, came down the street,


s: Filling the air with music wild and sweet.


s: From all the country round these birds were brought,


s: By order of the town, with anxious quest,


s: And, loosened from their wicker prisons, sought


s: In woods and fields the places they loved best,


s: Singing loud canticles, which many thought


s: Were satires to the authorities addressed,


s: While others, listening in green lanes, averred


s: But blither still and louder carolled they


s: Upon the morrow, for they seemed to know


s: Their songs burst forth in joyous overflow,


s: The Landlord's eyes were closed in sleep,


s: At this all laughed; the Landlord stirred,


s: Through which the oak-trees, broad and high,


s: Full late they slept.  They did not hear


s: Through sand and mire like stranding keels,


s: With thoughts of this world and the next;


s: With change of place and change of name,


s: Disguised, transformed, and yet the same


s: And drenched with rain from head to hoof,


s: Looked forth, and saw the wretched steed,


s: Of ancient Roman date, but scant renown,


s: One of those little places that have run


s: Half up the hill, beneath a blazing sun,


s: And then sat down to rest, as if to say,


s: "I climb no farther upward, come what may,"--


s: So many monarchs since have borne the name,


s: Had a great bell hung in the market-place


s: Beneath a roof, projecting some small space,


s: By way of shelter from the sun and rain.


s: Then rode he through the streets with all his train,


s: And, with the blast of trumpets loud and long,


s: The great bell in the square, and he, the King,


s: Would cause the Syndic to decide thereon.


s: What wrongs were righted, need not here be said.


s: Suffice it that, as all things must decay,


s: The hempen rope at length was worn away,


s: Unravelled at the end, and, strand by strand,


s: Loosened and wasted in the ringer's hand,


s: So that the leaves and tendrils of the vine


s: By chance it happened that in Atri dwelt


s: A knight, with spur on heel and sword in belt,


s: Who loved to hunt the wild-boar in the woods,


s: Who loved his falcons with their crimson hoods,


s: Who loved his hounds and horses, and all sports


s: And prodigalities of camps and courts;--


s: Loved, or had loved them; for at last, grown old,


s: He sold his horses, sold his hawks and hounds,


s: Rented his vineyards and his garden-grounds,


s: Kept but one steed, his favorite steed of all,


s: And day by day sat brooding in his chair,


s: Devising plans how best to hoard and spare.


s: At length he said: "What is the use or need


s: When rents are low and provender is dear?


s: So the old steed was turned into the heat


s: Of the long, lonely, silent, shadeless street;


s: Barked at by dogs, and torn by brier and thorn.


s: With bolted doors and window-shutters closed,


s: The Syndic started from his deep repose,


s: Turned on his couch, and listened, and then rose


s: And donned his robes, and with reluctant pace


s: Went panting forth into the market-place,


s: Where the great bell upon its cross-beam swung


s: In half-articulate jargon, the old song:


s: "Some one hath done a wrong, hath done a wrong!"


s: But ere he reached the belfry's light arcade


s: He saw, or thought he saw, beneath its shade,


s: "Domeneddio!" cried the Syndie straight,


s: "This is the Knight of Atri's steed of state!


s: He calls for justice, being sore distressed,


s: And pleads his cause as loudly as the best."


s: Meanwhile from street and lane a noisy crowd


s: Had rolled together like a summer cloud,


s: And told the story of the wretched beast


s: In five-and-twenty different ways at least,


s: To heathen gods, in their excessive zeal.


s: The Knight was called and questioned; in reply


s: And set at naught the Syndic and the rest,


s: That he should do what pleased him with his own.


s: The proclamation of the King; then said:


s: "Pride goeth forth on horseback grand and gay,


s: But cometh back on foot, and begs its way;


s: Of flowers of chivalry and not of weeds!


s: They never yet have reached your knightly ear.


s: What fair renown, what honor, what repute


s: Can come to you from starving this poor brute?


s: He who serves well and speaks not, merits more


s: Than they who clamor loudest at the door.


s: Therefore the law decrees that as this steed


s: Served you in youth, henceforth you shall take heed


s: Shelter in stall an food and field beside."


s: The Knight withdrew abashed; the people all


s: Led home the steed in triumph to his stall.


s: The King heard and approved, and laughed in glee


s: And cried aloud: "Right well it pleaseth me!


s: Church-bells at best but ring us to the door;


s: But go not in to mass; my bell doth more:


s: It cometh into court and pleads the cause


s: And this shall make, in every Christian clime,


s: And saw in the thronging street beneath,


s: In the light of the setting sun, that blazed


s: Through the clouds of dust by the caravan raised,


s: And the weary camels that bared their teeth,


s: As they passed and passed through the gates unbarred


s: The plains are dark with the mulberry-trees,


s: The divers plunging for pearls in the seas,


s: Concealed by forests and hillocks of sand,


s: And forward dashed with a handful of men,


s: Ere we reached the town the alarm was spread,


s: For we heard the sound of gongs from within;


s: And with clash of cymbals and warlike din


s: The gates swung wide; and we turned and fled;


s: And the garrison sallied forth and pursued,


s: So we snared them all, and the town was subdued.


s: A tower that is called the Tower of Gold!


s: For there the Kalif had hidden his wealth,


s: To feel of the gold that gave him health,


s: And to gaze and gloat with his hungry eye


s: Thou shouldst not have heaped and hidden it here,


s: Till the breath of battle was hot and near,


s: But have sown through the land these useless hoards


s: To spring into shining blades of swords,


s: These grains of gold are not grains of wheat;


s: These bars of silver thou canst not eat;


s: From climbing the stairways of thy tower!'


s: "Then into his dungeon I locked the drone,


s: Was heard from those massive walls of stone,


s: The rings had dropped from his withered hands,


s: His teeth were like bones in the desert sands:


s: Still clutching his treasure he had died;


s: With rust of centuries, still looks down


s: Of his waxed thread the stitch and rhyme.


s: With horns that blew, and drums that beat,


s: "Purchase these letters, signed and sealed,


s: Though seasons changed, yet still the same


s: That even the poor preserve with care,--


s: Meanwhile the Priest, aggrieved and pained,


s: Contempt of Church; thus said the Priest;


s: "She is," came struggling from his throat


s: Come, speak the truth! confess the whole!"


s: "Fight fire with fire, and craft with craft;


s: Who smoked and grumbled o'er their grog,


s: He helped them hoist and reef the sails,


s: He helped them stow the casks and bales,


s: And before the gale, or against the gale,


s: "She haunts the Atlantic north and south,


s: Where three great rocks rise bleak and bare


s: "I should like to see this ship," said he;


s: "I should like to find these Chimneys Three,


s: "I have sailed right over the spot," he said


s: When the sea was blue, and the sky was clear,--


s: You can follow my course by these pinholes here,--


s: "O, it must be like heaven," thought he,


s: And his mother under the churchyard sod,


s: Black grew the sky,--all black, all black;


s: The lightning flashed from cloud to cloud,


s: For right ahead lay the Ship of the Dead,


s: Her masts were stripped, her yards were bare,


s: The boatswain's whistle, the captain's hail,


s: And they all knew their doom was sealed;


s: And some they wept, and some they swore,


s: As she dashed and crashed, a hopeless wreck,


s: The storm and night were passed, the light


s: "Flowers gathered from a crumbling wall,


s: They want hot bread, or something worse,


s: One hundred years ago, and something more,


s: In Queen Street, Portsmouth, at her tavern door,


s: Stood Mistress Stavers in her furbelows,


s: Just as her cuckoo-clock was striking nine.


s: Above her head, resplendent on the sign,


s: Surveyed at leisure all her varied charms,


s: Her cap, her bodice, her white folded arms,


s: And half resolved, though he was past his prime,


s: And rather damaged by the lapse of time,


s: The passion that had driven him to despair.


s: Stavers, her husband, dressed in bottle-green,


s: Drive his new Flying Stage-coach, four in hand,


s: Down the long lane, and out into the land,


s: Barefooted, ragged, with neglected hair,


s: Eyes full of laughter, neck and shoulders bare,


s: A pail of water, dripping, through the street


s: And bathing, as she went her naked feet.


s: It was a pretty picture, full of grace,--


s: The slender form, the delicate, thin face;


s: The shining feet, the laughter in her eye,


s: That o'er her face in ripples gleamed and glanced,


s: As in her pail the shifting sunbeam danced:


s: Not so Dame Stavers, for he heard her say


s: These words, or thought he did, as plain as day:


s: About the town half dressed, and looking so!"


s: In my own chariot, ma'am."  And on the child


s: Looked back, then turned the corner, and was gone.


s: And brilliant equipage, that flashed and spun,


s: The silver harness glittering in the sun,


s: Outriders with red jackets, lithe and lank,


s: Pounding the saddles as they rose and sank,


s: A portly person with three-cornered hat,


s: A crimson velvet coat, head high in air,


s: Gold-headed cane, and nicely powdered hair,


s: And diamond buckles sparkling at his knees,


s: Dignified, stately, florid, much at ease.


s: Onward the pageant swept, and as it passed,


s: Fair Mistress Stavers courtesied low and fast;


s: For this was Governor Wentworth, driving down


s: Where his Great House stood looking out to sea,


s: A goodly place, where it was good to be.


s: Near and yet hidden from the great high-road,


s: And stacks of chimneys rising high in air,--


s: Pandaean pipes, on which all winds that blew


s: Made mournful music the whole winter through.


s: Panels, and floors of oak, and tapestry;


s: Carved chimney-pieces, where on brazen dogs


s: Revelled and roared the Christmas fires of logs;


s: Mysterious passages, and flights of stairs;


s: And on the walls, in heavy gilded frames,


s: The ancestral Wentworths with Old-Scripture names.


s: Such was the mansion where the great man dwelt.


s: For though not given to weakness, he could feel


s: The pain of wounds, that ache because they heal.


s: The years came and the years went,--seven in all,


s: And passed in cloud and sunshine o'er the Hall;


s: The dawns their splendor through its chambers shed,


s: The sunsets flushed its western windows red;


s: The snow was on its roofs, the wind, the rain;


s: Its woodlands were in leaf and bare again;


s: Moons waxed and waned, the lilacs bloomed and died,


s: In the broad river ebbed and flowed the tide,


s: Ships went to sea, and ships came home from sea,


s: And the slow years sailed by and ceased to be.


s: And all these years had Martha Hilton served


s: In the Great House, not wholly unobserved:


s: By day, by night, the silver crescent grew,


s: Though hidden by clouds, her light still shining through;


s: A maid of all work, whether coarse or fine,


s: Through her each room was fair to look upon;


s: The mirrors glistened, and the brasses shone,


s: If she but passed, was brighter than before.


s: And now the ceaseless turning of the mill


s: Of Time, that never for an hour stands still,


s: Ground out the Governor's sixtieth birthday,


s: And powdered his brown hair with silver-gray.


s: The robin, the forerunner of the spring,


s: The restless swallows building in the eaves,


s: The golden buttercups, the grass, the leaves,


s: He gave a splendid banquet served on plate,


s: Such as became the Governor of the State,


s: He had invited all his friends and peers,--


s: The Sparhawks, the Penhallows, and the rest;


s: But I must mention one, in bands and gown,


s: The rector there, the Reverend Arthur Brown


s: Of the Established Church; with smiling face


s: He sat beside the Governor and said grace;


s: And then the feast went on, as others do,


s: When they had drunk the King, with many a cheer,


s: The Governor whispered in a servant's ear,


s: Who disappeared and presently there stood


s: A maiden, modest and yet self-possessed,


s: Youthful and beautiful, and simply dressed.


s: Dowered with the beauty of her twenty years,


s: How ladylike, how queenlike she appears;


s: The pale, thin crescent of the days gone by


s: Yet scarce a guest perceived that she was there,


s: Until the Governor, rising from his chair,


s: Played slightly with his ruffles, then looked down,


s: And said unto the Reverend Arthur Brown:


s: "This is my birthday: it shall likewise be


s: My wedding-day; and you shall marry me!"


s: The listening guests were greatly mystified,


s: None more so than the rector, who replied:


s: "Marry you?  Yes, that were a pleasant task,


s: The Governor answered: "To this lady here"


s: And beckoned Martha Hilton to draw near.


s: She came and stood, all blushes, at his side.


s: The rector paused.  The impatient Governor cried:


s: Then I command you as Chief Magistrate."


s: The rector read the service loud and clear:


s: On the fourth finger of her fair left hand


s: The Governor placed the ring; and that was all:


s: Well pleased the audience heard the tale.


s: Thresh out your wheat, nor does there fail


s: Lord, he thought, in heaven that reignest,


s: Straight by these flattering words beguiled,


s: The birds were building, the woods were green;


s: Through the southern windows, narrow and tall,


s: The house-dog, stretched beneath his chair,


s: Then wakes, and yawns, and sleeps again,


s: And his hunting-knives in shape of a fan;


s: The village Curate, with lantern and maid,


s: And cross the courtyard damp and dark,--


s: And now at the old man's side he stands,


s: And the Cardinal's nieces fair and fond,


s: To the one sad thought that haunts his brain,


s: Ah, why has that wild boy gone from me?"


s: "Young blood! young blood!  It must so be!"


s: Till the clock at nine strikes loud and clear


s: Through the chambers of the old chateau,


s: The voice in the courtyard, the step on the stair,


s: But letters there are, which the old man reads


s: Repeats his prayers and tells his beads;


s: Of hunting the deer through forests vast


s: Of nights in the tents of the Tarratines;


s: And so soft the tones of their native tongue,


s: The words are not spoken, they are sung!


s: And the Curate listens, and smiling says:


s: And to sleep in the tents of the Tarratines;


s: And the Somebody comes and begins to blow."


s: Then a gleam of distrust and vague surmise


s: And strikes and tears the old man's heart.


s: The letter drops from the father's hand;


s: Though the sinews of his heart are wrung,


s: He utters no cry, he breathes no prayer,


s: But his stately figure, erect and grand,


s: At length, at last, when the winter is past,


s: And birds are building, and woods are green,


s: And all the house must be swept and clean,


s: The heart that would have leaped for joy--


s: There's a sound of wheels and hoofs in the street,


s: A cracking of whips, and scamper of feet,


s: And the Baron hath come again to his own.


s: And around her a robe of panther's hide.


s: The two small hands, that now are pressed


s: And the Baron smiles, and says, "You see,


s: They wonder, and whisper together, and say,


s: And in course of time they learn to bless


s: He is ice and fire, he freezes and burns.


s: He hath bought her for a gun and a knife!


s: But the nearer the dawn the darker the night,


s: And by going wrong all things come right;


s: Things have been mended that were worse,


s: And the worse, the nearer they are to mend.


s: For the sake of the living and the dead,


s: The doors of the church are opened wide,


s: The warm wind blows from the hills of Spain,


s: The birds are building, the leaves are green,


s: And filled the room with light, and made


s: Like prisoners from their dungeon gloom,


s: Through man and beast, through grain and grass.


s: 'I did not reap thee, did not bind thee,


s: I did not thrash thee, did not grind thee,


s: I only have thee, hold thee, break thee!'"


s: "The flocks that from their beds of reed


s: "That was your dream, then, as you dozed


s: Was walking with a stranger from the East,


s: And as they walked the guest became aware


s: His form and features seemed to recognize;


s: "What is yon shape, that, pallid as the dead,


s: Is watching me, as if he sought to trace


s: In the dim light the features of my face?"


s: The king looked, and replied: "I know him well;


s: 'T is the Death Angel; what hast thou to fear?"


s: And the guest answered: "Lest he should come near,


s: And speak to me, and take away my breath!


s: Save me from Azrael, save me from death!


s: O king, that hast dominion o'er the wind,


s: The king gazed upward at the cloudless sky,


s: Whispered a word, and raised his hand on high,


s: With hidden fire, and rushing from the west


s: There came a mighty wind, and seized the guest


s: And lifted him from earth, and on they passed,


s: His shining garments streaming in the blast,


s: A silken banner o'er the walls upreared,


s: A purple cloud, that gleamed and disappeared.


s: Then said the Angel, smiling: "If this man


s: Thou hast done well in listening to his prayer;


s: While the good friars were singing mass.


s: And sweeps from mountain-crest to coast,


s: With lightning flaming through its showers,


s: Stood gazing northward o'er the rolling plains,


s: League after league of harvests, to the foot


s: Of the snow-crested Alps, and saw approach


s: Said unto Olger, who had passed his youth


s: As hostage at the court of France, and knew


s: The Emperor's form and face "Is Charlemagne


s: Among that host?"  And Olger answered: "No."


s: Flowed onward and increased, until the King


s: Is coming in the midst of all these knights!"


s: And Olger answered slowly: "No; not yet;


s: He will not come so soon."  Then much disturbed


s: King Desiderio asked: "What shall we do,


s: if he approach with a still greater army!"


s: And Olger answered: "When he shall appear,


s: You will behold what manner of man he is;


s: But what will then befall us I know not."


s: Then came the guard that never knew repose,


s: The Paladins of France; and at the sight


s: The Lombard King o'ercome with terror cried:


s: "This must be Charlemagne!" and as before


s: Did Olger answer: "No; not yet, not yet."


s: The light of day, nor yet encounter death,


s: But sobbed aloud and said: "Let us go down


s: "When you behold the harvests in the fields


s: Shaking with fear, the Po and the Ticino


s: Then may you know that Charlemagne is come.


s: Lo! there uprose a black and threatening cloud,


s: Out of whose bosom flashed the light of arms


s: A light more terrible than any darkness;


s: And Charlemagne appeared;--a Man of Iron!


s: Of iron, and his breastplate and his greaves


s: And tassets were of iron, and his shield.


s: The horse he rode on had the strength of iron,


s: And color of iron.  All who went before him


s: Beside him and behind him, his whole host,


s: Were armed with iron, and their hearts within them


s: Were stronger than the armor that they wore.


s: The fields and all the roads were filled with iron,


s: And shed a terror through the city streets.


s: Saw from the tower, and turning to the King


s: Exclaimed in haste: "Behold! this is the man


s: You looked for with such eagerness!" and then


s: That tangled and perplexed his thoughts;


s: And hugged them in his arms, and pressed


s: When Alcuin taught the sons of Charlemagne,


s: In the free schools of Aix, how kings should reign,


s: And with them taught the children of the poor


s: How subjects should be patient and endure,


s: He touched the lips of some, as best befit,


s: Of ancient history, sweet but less divine;


s: Some with the wholesome fruits of grammar fed;


s: Others with mysteries of the stars o'er-head,


s: Like lamps in some fair palace vast and high.


s: In sooth, it was a pleasant sight to see


s: With inkhorn at his belt, and pen and book,


s: And mingled lore and reverence in his look,


s: Or hear the cloister and the court repeat


s: The measured footfalls of his sandaled feet,


s: Or watch him with the pupils of his school,


s: Among them, always earliest in his place.


s: Whose face was bright with flashes that forerun


s: To him all things were possible, and seemed


s: Not what he had accomplished, but had dreamed,


s: And what were tasks to others were his play,


s: With many a shrug and shaking of the head,


s: Who showed more wit than ever schoolboy had,


s: And learned his Trivium thus without the rod;


s: But Alcuin said it was the grace of God.


s: Perfect in Grammar, and in Rhetoric nice;


s: And lore of Stars, and Music knew by heart;


s: Of those who sang their love in Suabian rhymes.


s: The Emperor, when he heard this good report


s: Of Eginhard much buzzed about the court,


s: Said to himself, "This stripling seems to be


s: He shall become my scribe, and shall be schooled


s: In all the arts whereby the world is ruled."


s: Became the sovereign's favorite, his right hand,


s: So that his fame was great in all the land,


s: And all men loved him for his modest grace


s: Among the armed knights with spur on heel,


s: The tramp of horses and the clang of steel;


s: And as the Emperor promised he was schooled


s: In all the arts by which the world is ruled.


s: But the one art supreme, whose law is fate,


s: The Emperor never dreamed of till too late.


s: Home from her convent to the palace came


s: The lovely Princess Emma, whose sweet name,


s: She came, by knights attended through the gate;


s: Fresh as the morn, and beautiful as May;


s: He saw her in the garden, as she strayed


s: Among the flowers of summer with her maid,


s: The meaning and the mystery of the rose";


s: And trembling he made answer: "In good sooth,


s: Its mystery is love, its meaning youth!"


s: How can I tell the signals and the signs


s: By which one heart another heart divines?


s: By which it keeps the secret it betrays?


s: Shining in steel, and prancing on gay steeds,


s: Noble by birth, yet nobler by great deeds,


s: The Princess Emma had no words nor looks


s: But for this clerk, this man of thought and books.


s: The summer passed, the autumn came; the stalks


s: Of lilies blackened in the garden walks;


s: The leaves fell, russet-golden and blood-red,


s: Love-letters thought the poet fancy-led,


s: For poets cherish many a strange conceit,


s: And love transmutes all nature by its heat.


s: No more the garden lessons, nor the dark


s: And hurried meetings in the twilight park;


s: But now the studious lamp, and the delights


s: Of firesides in the silent winter nights,


s: And watching from his window hour by hour


s: The light that burned in Princess Emma's tower.


s: At length one night, while musing by the fire,


s: For what will reckless love not do and dare?--


s: He crossed the court, and climbed the winding stair,


s: With some feigned message in the Emperor's name;


s: He knelt down at her feet, until she laid


s: And whispered in his ear: "Arise, Sir Knight,


s: To my heart's level, O my heart's delight."