"For to-morrow we give to the slaughter and flame "The sons and the shrines of the Christian name. "None, save thou and thine, I've sworn 540 "Shall be left upon the morn: "But thee will I bear to a lovely spot, "Where our hands shall be joined, and our sorrow "Whom vice and envy made my foes." Upon his hand she laid her own .550 Light was the touch, but it thrilled to the bone, And shot a chillness to his heart, Which fixed him beyond the power to start. Though slight was that grasp so mortal cold, He could not loose him from its hold; But never did clasp of one so dear Strike on the pulse with such feeling of fear, As those thin fingers, long and white, Froze through his blood by their touch that night. 555 The feverish glow of his brow was gone, And his heart sank so still that it felt like stone, 560 As he looked on the face, and beheld its hue So deeply changed from what he knew: Fair but faint-without the ray Of mind, that made each feature play 565 Like sparkling waves on a sunny day; And her motionless lips lay still as death, And her words came forth without her breath, So seen by the dying lamp's fitful light, Lifeless, but life-like, and awful to sight; 575 As they seem, through the dimness, about to come down From the shadowy wall where their images frown; D Fearfully flitting to and fro, As the gusts on the tapestry come and go. "If not for love of me be given "Thus much, then, for the love of heaven, "Thine injured country's sons to spare, "Or thou art lost; and never shalt see 581 585 "Not earth-that's past-but heaven or me. "If this thou dost accord, albeit 590 "A heavy doom 'tis thine to meet, "That doom shall half absolve thy sin, "And mercy's gate may receive thee within: "But pause one moment more, and take 7 full soon sail ""Tis passing, and will pass 595 600 "Dark will thy doom be, darker still "Thine immortality of ill." 605 Alp looked to heaven, and saw on high The sign she spake of in the sky; But his heart was swollen, and turned aside, And charged to crush him-let it burst! He looked upon it earnestly, Without an accent of reply; He watched it passing; it is flown: Full on his eye the clear moon shone, And thus he spake-" Whate'er my fate, "I am no changeling-'tis too late : "The reed in storms may bow and quiver, "Then rise again; the tree must shiver. 620 625 "What Venice made me, I must be, "Her foe in all, save love to thee: "But thou art safe: oh, fly with me!" He turned, but she is gone! Nothing is there but the column stone. Hath she sunk in the earth, or melted in air? He saw not, he knew not; but nothing is there. XXII. The night is past, and shines the sum As if that morn were a jocund one. Lightly and brightly breaks away 635 The Morning from her mantle grey, And the Noon will look on a sultry day. Hark to the trump, and the drum, And the mournful sound of the barbarous horn, 639 And the flap of the banners, that flit as they're borne, And the neigh of the steed, and the multitude's hum, And the clash, and the shout, they come, they come!' 8 The horsetails are plucked from the ground, and the sword From its sheath; and they form, and but wait for the word. 630 |