IV. This done, Mazeppa spread his cloak, And laid his lance beneath his oak, Felt if his arms in order good The long day's march had well withstood If still the powder fill'd the pan, And flints unloosen'd kept their lock His sabre's hilt and scabbard felt, And whether they had chafed his belt— From out his haversack and can, Than courtiers at a banquet would. And seem above both wounds and woe ; And then he said-" Of all our band, 66 Though firm of heart and strong of hand, 80 90 "In skirmish, march, or forage, none "So fit a pair had never birth, "All Scythia's fame to thine should yield "The school wherein I learn'd to ride!" 100 Quoth Charles-" Old Hetman, wherefore so, "Since thou hast learn'd the art so well?" 110 Mazeppa said ""Twere long to tell; "And we have many a league to go "With every now and then a blow, "And ten to one at least the foe, "Before our steeds may graze at ease "And, sire, your limbs have need of rest, "And I will be the sentinel "Of this your troop."-" But I request," Said Sweden's monarch, "thou wilt tell 120 "This tale of thine, and I may reap, "Perchance, from this the boon of sleep, "Well, sire, with such a hope, I'll track My seventy years of memory back: "I think 'twas in my twentieth spring, "Ay, 'twas,—when Casimir was king— "John Casimir,-I was his page "A learned monarch, faith! was he, "And sometimes these so froward are, 66 They made him wish himself at war; "But soon his wrath being o'er, he took "Another mistress, or new book: 130 140 "And then he gave prodigious fêtes— "All Warsaw gather'd round his gates "So sung his poets, all but one, "A count of far and high descent, "Rich as a salt or silver mine ;* "And he was proud, ye may divine, "As if from heaven he had been sent: 150 "He had such wealth in blood and ore 160 "As few could match beneath the throne; "And he would gaze upon his store, "And o'er his pedigree would pore, * This comparison of a " salt mine" may perhaps be permitted to a Pole, as the wealth of the country consists greatly in the salt mines. "Until by some confusion led, "Which almost look'd like want of head, He thought their merits were his own. "His wife was not of his opinion "His junior she by thirty years— "Grew daily tired of his dominion; “And, after wishes, hopes, and fears, “To virtue a few farewell tears, "A restless dream or two, some glances "At Warsaw's youth, some songs, and dances, "Awaited but the usual chances, "Those happy accidents which render 170 "Of these who have deserved them most. 180 V. "I was a goodly stripling then; "At seventy years I so may say, "That there were few, or boys or men, "Who, in my dawning time of day, |