Burnt with a fierce unhallow'd flame,

"He was a free-a welcome guest,

་་

My Sire esteemed his gallant name;
"Curse on the hour, when first he came,
"It heralded a Sister's shame,
"Poor Emily thy soul was free
"As sining mortals e'er may be,
""Till that accurst deceiver rent
"Thy bosom's firmest battlement;
"When honor, virtue, reason fled
"Away from that poiluted bed,
"O'er which no Parent's prayer was given;
"Unblest by Man, unblest by Heaven.
"That one unguarded-fatal hour

"When passion ruled with burning power,
"And Gayaston, with flushing eye,
"Gazed proudly on his victory.

13.

"As when some Town that many an hour "Has braved the fierce besiegers power, "Whose walls of strength have long withstood 66 Its foes 'assault-its children's blood : "But spite of all the brave have doue, "At length the shatter'd City's won, "With a slaughter as red as the setting Sun. "Then is the victor's joyful hour: "He sees at his feet the levell'd tower, "And spurs his courser o'er the plain, "Thickly strewn with the gory slain, "Then indeed is his time of pride, "Crush'd is the toe who lately defied, "And he alone their force could queil, "He alone had might to fell;

་་

"The City deem'd impreguable,

"And thus it was that Piers survey'd,

"The helpless ruin he had made.

"With demon-glance that darkly lowers, "When brightest, sweetest, parest Bowers, "That Earth contains or Heaven van yield, "Lie swept and wither'd on the field.

"Oh! God that one false step should bring, "So deadly and so deep a sting,

"That only one concession made,

"How silently and swiftly fade

"The moral beauties of the mind,

"And like the fitful passing wind,

"

When all absorb'd by Summer bears?

"They fade as dim as Madnien's dream's ;

"O'er the lost heart resign their sway, "And all beyond is but decay.

14.

"Time sped away with merry wing,
"Till Winter pass'd and o'er the glade,
"The lovely gifts of early Spring,

Were in their brightest hues array'd; "And then the traitors deed was known, "But 'twas too late-the slave had flown, "As bursts upon the startled ear, "The Alpine torrent wildly crashing, "So came that tale of grief and fear "Upon my thrilling heart-string dashing. "My heart within my bosom grew, "Till fit to burst its narrow cell, "And from my belt my blade I drew "And swore by all of Earth and Hell; "My hopes in life, my thoughts of Heaven "To strike a full requiting blow, "To live accurst, to die unshriven, "Should I my dear revenge forego. "But Emily around me clung,

And from my lips a promise wrung, That for a time, though brief it were, "I would renounce the hot desire, "Of swift requital-and her prayer, "Restrained my passions outward fire. "But in my bosom's inmost seat, "They burnt with a destroying heat; "Consumed the light and trifling train "Of leolings that I then deem'd vain: "Calcined them to one shapeless heap "Of vengeance--deadly-dark and deep.

15.

My Father bow'd before the storm, "I saw it in his sinking form, “I mark'd it in his drooping eye,

"Now idly bent on vacancy; "He dud-I stood beside tus bier, "With thoughts too deep to yield a tear; "I mingled in the dark array,

That bore his lifeless form away; "And near the Fathers of our race,

"We made his silent resting place.

16.

"I strove to cheer my Sister's mind,
"And fondly deemed that she might find,
"A brother's love afford relief,
"And soothe her broken spirits grief.
"Vain hope, I saw her day by day,
"In silent sadness fade away;

"She thank'd me for my kind caress,
"But with no smile of joyousness;
"And though of pain no word was spoken,
"Full well I ween'd her heart was broken.
“Last night she breathed her last of Earth,
"Beneath the roof that gave her birth.

"She press'd my hand and spoke of meeting,
"The friends whose forms were round her fleeting;
"Wept with many a bitter sigh,

"Her loss of maiden purity.

"Of Piers she spoke but my troubled brain,

Her gentle words could not retain,

"Something she murmur'd of love and Heaven,

"And something of hope and being forgiven, “I had no words--for in that hour,

"I seem'd bereft of mortal power,

"For little deem'd I that aught so sweet, “So sad and so early a fate could meet;

She feebly rose and her tear dinım'd eye, "From point to point of the landscape run. "The glowing tints of the Summer sky,. "The latest beams of the setting sun.

Sadly she gazed for too well she knew, "That never again the gentle blue,

"Of that sky could on her eyelids beam,
"Nor valley, nor hill, nor mountain stream;
"And though the morrow's loveliest ray,
"Might shine on her form yet far away
"The spirit would wander pure and free,
"Stamp'd with the seal of eternity.
"Her trembling lips essay'd a sound,

"But perished ere a passage found.

"

'Yet she seem'd refresh'd as the evening's breath,

"Stole with a sigh in the chamber of death,

And with it the sad and mournful strain,

"Of the distant Convent's vesper bell,

"And as on her ear its cadence fell

"

She murmur'd a gentle prayer again.

She press'd her hand on her forehead white, "Which rapidly grew as dark as night, "Though but for an instant it glided o'er,

As a cloudlet passes the noonday sun,

"The spirit but struggled a moment more, "And her sorrows were past, her pangs were done,

17.

;

I know tot how the night was spent, "How the maddening moments went, "For my blood was like a flaming tide, "As I stood my Sister's couch beside "There was a something in my brain, "Twis more than agony of pain; "Of bitter thoughts a gathering throng, A deep and burning sense of wrong; “But just æð sunny morn was breaking, "And all creation seem'd awaking, "I pluck'd a rose, a lovely gem Which overbow'd its parent stem; "And placed it with a bitter sigh, And rapid gush of memory; "Which made my very centre thrill, "Upon that bosom cold and still. 18. 50

"Twas mora and at the Castle gate, My noble war-horse saddled stood, "And in my heart the deadliest hate, "Was craving for the traitor's blood. "Yet once again I turned to see, "The form that was so dear to me, Abd gazed upon that snowy breast, Now motionless--a kiss 1 prest Upon her lips-it was the last, "My gather'd tears fell thick and fast, "I could not then their flow restrain They gush'd like flames across my brain. "They scotch'd my soul, they sooth'd me not. "I started wildly from the spot, "And sprining on my trusty steed, "These lighter feelings quickly fled, "I thought but of one desperate deed, "And all beside was still and dead.

"Can firmly strike when vengeance calls.
"With morning's light we will away,
"And Deddington's embattled walls,
"Ere night shall sce a fatal fray.”

21.

The sun was up, the summoning bora
Saluted well the Summer's morn;
The trumpets sounded loud and shrill,
The vassals came from the distant hill,
The peasants answer'd their Lord's behest,
To fight for his young and gallant guest;
They onward came and each serving man,
Was arm'd with buckler and partizan,
With ashen spear and whittle strong,
They were in sooth a goodly throng;
All silently the matron wept,
As forth her sou to battle stept,
But the grey-hair'd Man exulting blest
The youth who on to the cortege prest,
The serf forsook his cottage side,
With a parting tear for his lovely bride.

22.

There breaks on the ear a gathering hum,
And the rising sound of a distant drum;
It swells on the wings of the morning gale,
With the ring of arms and the crash of mail,
The warriors dash o'er the yelvet plain,
With the martial trumpets! echoing strain;
The courser speeds on his gallant career,
Bedeck'd with the mantling and frontal spear;
The riders they heed not peril or toil,
They think but of conquest and coming spoil.

23.

'Twas noon-tide hour and every hand,
That could unsheath a battle brand,
Knights and Serts and Yeomen tall,
Were gather'd before the Castle wall:
Ready to fight and ready to die,
At their noble chieftain's battle-cry.

24.

The knights appear'd, each glittering crest,
Surmounted a brave and swelling breast.
With pennon'd lance where beauty's tear,
Had left one spot of rust more dear