XIII

'O say thy Pater Noster, child!
O turn to God and grace!

His will, that turned thy bliss to bale,
Can change thy bale to bliss."

XIV

"O mother, mother! What is bliss ?
O mother, what is bale ?

My William's love was heaven on earth,
Without it earth is hell.

XV

Why should I pray to ruthless Heaven, Since my loved William 's slain ? I only prayed for William's sake, And all my prayers were vain."

XVI

"O take the sacrament, my child,
And check these tears that flow;
By resignation's humble prayer,
O hallowed be thy woe!"

XVII

"No sacrament can quench this fire,
Or slake this scorching pain:

No sacrament can bid the dead
Arise and live again.

XVIII

"O break, my heart, O break at once! Be thou my god, Despair!

Heaven's heaviest blow has fallen on me, And vain each fruitless prayer."

XIX

"O enter not in judgment, Lord, With thy frail child of clay!

She knows not what her tongue has spoke; Impute it not, I pray!

XX

"Forbear, my child, this desperate woe,
And turn to God and grace;

Well can devotion's heavenly glow
Convert thy bale to bliss."

XXI

"O mother, mother, what is bliss? O mother, what is bale ?

Without my William what were heaven, Or with him what were hell ?"

XXII

Wild she arraigns the eternal doom,
Upbraids each sacred power,

Till, spent, she sought her silent room
All in the lonely tower.

XXIII

She beat her breast, she wrung her hands,
Till sun and day were o'er,

And through the glimmering lattice shone
The twinkling of the star.

XXIV

Then, crash! the heavy drawbridge fell,
That o'er the moat was hung;
And, clatter! clatter! on its boards
The hoof of courser rung.

XXV

The clank of echoing steel was heard

As off the rider bounded;

And slowly on the winding stair

A heavy footstep sounded.

XXVI

And hark! and hark! a knock-Tap! tap!
A rustling stifled noise;-
Door-latch and tinkling staples ring;-

At length a whispering voice.

XXVII

"Awake, awake, arise my love! How, Helen, dost thou fare?

Wakest thou, or sleep'st? laugh'st thou, or weep'st? Hast thought on me, my fair ?"

XXVIII

"My love! my love!-so late by night !—

I waked, I wept for thee:

Much have I borne since dawn of morn;
Where, William, couldst thou be?”

XXIX

"We saddle late-from Hungary

I rode since darkness fell;
And to its bourne we both return
Before the matin-bell."

XXX

"O rest this night within my arms,

And warm thee in their fold!

Chill howls through hawthorn-bush the wind:-
My love is deadly cold."

XXXI

"Let the wind howl through hawthorn-bush! This night we must away;

The steed is wight, the spur is bright;

I cannot stay till day.

XXXII

"Busk, busk, and boune! Thou mount'st behind Upon my black Barb steed:

O'er stock and stile, a hundred miles,
We haste to bridal bed."

XXXIII

"To-night-to-night a hundred miles !-
O dearest William, stay!

The bell strikes twelve-dark, dismal hour!
O wait, my love, till day!"'

XXXIV

"Look here, look here-the moon shines clearFull fast I ween we ride;

Mount and away! for ere the day

We reach our bridal bed.

XXXV

"The black Barb snorts, the bridle rings;
Haste, busk, and boune, and seat thee!
The feast is made, the chamber spread,
The bridal guests await thee."

XXXVI

Strong love prevailed: She busks, she bounes,
She mounts the Barb behind,

And round her darling William's waist
Her lily arms she twined.

XXXVII

And, hurry! hurry! off they rode,

As fast as fast might be ;

Spurned from the courser's thundering heels
The flashing pebbles flee.

XXXVIII

And on the right, and on the left,
Ere they could snatch a view,

Fast, fast each mountain, mead, and plain,
And cot, and castle flew.

XXXIX

66 Sit fast-dost fear ?-The moon shines clear

Fleet rides my Barb-keep hold!

Fear'st thou ?"-" O no!" she faintly said;

66

But why so stern and cold?

XL

"What yonder rings? what yonder sings?
Why shrieks the owlet grey ?"-
"Tis death-bells' clang, 'tis funeral song,
The body to the clay.

XLI

"With song and clang, at morrow's dawn,
Ye may inter the dead:
To-night I ride, with my young bride,
To deck our bridal bed.

XLII

"Come with thy choir, thou coffined guest
To swell our nuptial song!

Come, priest, to bless our marriage feast!
Come all, come all along!"

XLIII

Ceased clang and song; down sunk the bier;
The shrouded corpse arose:
And, hurry, hurry! all the train
The thundering steed pursues.

XLIV

And, forward! forward! on they go;

High snorts the straining steed;
Thick pants the rider's labouring breath,

As headlong on they speed.

XLV

"O William, why this savage haste? And where thy bridal bed?"

""Tis distant far." "Still short and stern ?" ""Tis narrow, trustless maid."

XLVI

"No room for me ?" "Enough for both ;-
Speed, speed, my Barb, thy course!"
O'er thundering bridge, through boiling surge,
He drove the furious horse.

XLVII

Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode;
Splash! splash! along the sea;

The steed is wight, the spur is bright,
The flashing pebbles flee.

XLVIII

Fled past on right and left how fast
Each forest, grove, and bower;
On right and left fled past how fast
Each city, town, and tower.

XLIX

"Dost fear? dost fear ?-The moon shines clear;Dost fear to ride with me ?

Hurrah! hurrah! The dead can ride!"

66

“O William, let them be!

L

"See there, see there! What yonder swings

66

And creaks 'mid whistling rain?"

Gibbet and steel, the accursed wheel;

A murderer in his chain.

LI

"Hollo! thou felon, follow here:
To bridal bed we ride;

And thou shalt prance a fetter dance
Before me and my bride."

LII

And hurry, hurry! clash, clash, clash!
The wasted form descends;

And fleet as wind through hazel-bush
The wild career attends.

LIII

Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode,
Splash! splash! along the sea;

The scourge is red, the spur drops blood,
The flashing pebbles flee.

LIV

How fled what moonshine faintly showed!
How fled what darkness hid!

How fled the earth beneath their feet,

The heaven above their head!

ᏞᏙ

"Dost fear? dost fear? The moon shines clear,

And well the dead can ride;

Does faithful Helen fear for them ?"

"O leave in peace the dead!"

LVI

"Barb! Barb! methinks I hear the cock;

The sand will soon be run:

Barb! Barb! I smell the morning air;
The race is well nigh done."

LVII

Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode,
Splash! splash! along the sea;

The scourge is red, the spur drops blood,
The flashing pebbles flee.