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 ?"
66
"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.
"Dost fear? dost fear ?-The moon shines clear:
Dost fear to ride with me ?
Hurrah! hurrah! The dead can ride!"
"See there, see there! What yonder swings
And creaks 'mid whistling rain ?"
"Gibbet and steel, the accursed wheel;
A murderer in his chain.
"Hollo! thou felon, follow here:
To bridal bed we ride;
And thou shalt prance a fetter dance
Before me and my bride."
And hurry, hurry! clash, clash, clash!
The wasted form descends;
And fleet as wind through hazel-bush
The wild career attends.
Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode,
Splash! splash! along the sea;
The scourge is red, the spur drops blood,
The flashing pebbles flee.
How fled what moonshine faintly showed!
How fled what darkness hid!
How fled the earth beneath their feet,
The heaven above their head!
"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!"
"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."
Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode,
Splash! splash! along the sea;
The scourge is red, the spur drops blood,
The flashing pebbles flee.
LVIII
"Hurrah! hurrah! well ride the dead;
The bride, the bride is come!
And soon we reach the bridal bed,
For, Helen, here's my home."
LIX
Reluctant on its rusty hinge
Revolved an iron door,
And by the pale moon's setting beam
Were seen a church and tower.
LX
With many a shriek and cry whiz round
The birds of midnight, scared;
And rustling like autumnal leaves
Unhallowed ghosts were heard.
LXI
O'er many a tomb and tombstone pale
He spurred the fiery horse,
Till sudden at an open grave
He checked the wondrous course.
LXII
The falling gauntlet quits the rein,
Down drops the casque of steel,
The cuirass leaves his shrinking side,
The spur his gory heel.
LXIII
The eyes desert the naked skull,
The mouldering flesh the bone,
Till Helen's lily arms entwine
A ghastly skeleton.
LXIV
The furious Barb snorts fire and foam,
And, with a fearful bound
Dissolves at once in empty air,
And leaves her on the ground.
LXV
Half seen by fits, by fits half heard,
Pale spectres fleet along;
Wheel round the maid in dismal dance,
And howl the funeral song:
LXVI
"E'en when the heart's with anguish cleft, Revere the doom of Heaven.
Her soul is from her body reft;
Her spirit be forgiven !"
THE FIRE-KING.
"The blessings of the evil Genii, which are curses, were upon him."-Eastern Tale.
THIS ballad was written at the request of Mr. Lewis, to be inserted in his "Tales of Wonder," published in 1801. It is the third in a series of four ballads, on the subject of Elementary Spirits. The story is, however, partly historical; for it is recorded, that, during the struggles of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, a knight-templar, called Saint Alban, deserted to the Saracens, and defeated the Christians in many combats, till he was finally routed and slain, in a conflict with King Baldwin, under the walls of Jerusalem.
BOLD knights and fair dames, to my harp give an ear,
Of love, and of war, and of wonder to hear;
And you haply may sigh, in the midst of your glee,
At the tale of Count Albert, and fair Rosalie.
O see you that castle, so strong and so high?
And see you that lady, the tear in her eye?
And see you that palmer, from Palestine's land,
The shell on his hat, and the staff in his hand ?—
"Now palmer, grey palmer, O tell unto me,
What news bring you home from the Holy Countrie?
And how goes the warfare by Galilee's strand?
And how fare our nobles, the flower of the land ?"
"O well goes the warfare by Galilee's wave, For Gilead, and Nablous, and Ramah we have; And well fare our nobles by Mount Lebanon,
For the Heathen have lost, and the Christians have won."
A rich chain of gold 'mid her ringlets there hung; O'er the palmer's grey locks the fair chain has she flung: "O palmer, grey palmer, this chain be thy fee,
For the news thou hast brought from the Holy Countrie.
"O palmer, good palmer, by Galilee's wave,
O saw ye Count Albert, the gentle and brave?
When the Crescent went back, and the Red-cross rushed on,
O saw ye him foremost on Mount Lebanon ?"-
66
O lady, fair lady, the tree green it grows;
O lady, fair lady, the stream pure it flows;
Your castle stands strong, and your hopes soar on high, But lady, fair lady, all blossoms to die.
"The green boughs they wither, the thunderbolt falls,
It leaves of your castle but levin-scorched walls;
The pure stream runs muddy; the gay hope is gone,
Count Albert is prisoner on Mount Lebanon."-
O she's ta'en a horse, should be fleet at her speed;
And she's ta'en a sword, should be sharp at her need;
And she has ta'en shipping for Palestine's land,
To ransom Count Albert from Soldanrie's hand.
Small thought had Count Albert on fair Rosalie,
Small thought on his faith, or his knighthood, had he;
A heathenish damsel his light heart had won,
The Soldan's fair daughter of Mount Lebanon.
"Oh Christian, brave Christian, my love wouldst thou be,
Three things must thou do ere I hearken to thee:
Our laws and our worship on thee shalt thou take;
And this thou shalt first do for Zulema's sake.
"And, next, in the cavern, where burns evermore
The mystical flame which the Curdmans adore,
Alone, and in silence, three nights shalt thou wake;
And this thou shalt next do for Zulema's sake.
66
And, last, thou shalt aid us with counsel and hand,
To drive the Frank robber from Palestine's land;
For my lord and my love then Count Albert I'll take,
When all this is accomplished for Zulema's sake."-
He has thrown by his helmet and cross-handled sword,
Renouncing his knighthood, denying his Lord;
He has ta'en the green caftan, and turban put on,
For the love of the maiden of fair Lebanon.
And in the dread cavern, deep deep under ground,
Which fifty steel gates and steel portals surround,
He has watched until daybreak, but sight saw he none,
Save the flame burning bright on its altar of stone.
Amazed was the princess, the Soldan amazed,
Sore murmured the priests as on Albert they gazed:
They searched all his garments, and, under his weeds,
They found, and took from him, his rosary beads.
Again in the cavern, deep deep under ground,
He watched the lone night, while the winds whistled round;
Far off was their murmur, it came not more nigh,
The flame burned unmoved, and nought else did he spy.
Loud murmured the priests, and amazed was the king,
While many dark spells of their witchcraft they sing;
They searched Albert's body, and lo! on his breast
Was the sign of the Cross, by his father impressed.
The priests they erase it with care and with pain,
And the recreant returned to the cavern again;
But, as he descended, a whisper there fell!-
It was his good angel, who bade him farewell!
High bristled his hair, his heart fluttered and beat,
And he turned him five steps, half resolved to retreat;
But his heart it was hardened, his purpose was gone,
When he thought on the maiden of fair Lebanon.
|