THE COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. Walter Scott

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ To visit realms afar,

       Full often learn the art to know

       Of future weal, or future woe,

       By word, or sign, or star;

       Yet might a knight his fortune hear,

       If, knightlike, he despises fear,

       Not far from hence; if fathers old

       Aright our hamlet legend told.”

       These broken words the menials move,

       For marvels still the vulgar love,

       And, Marmion giving license cold,

       His tale the host thus gladly told:

       XIX

       The Host’s Tale

      “A clerk could tell what years have flown

       Since Alexander filled our throne,

       Third monarch of that warlike name,

       And eke the time when here he came

       To seek Sir Hugo, then our lord;

       A braver never drew a sword;

       A wiser never, at the hour

       Of midnight, spoke the word of power:

       The same, whom ancient records call

       The founder of the Goblin Hall.

       I would, Sir Knight, your longer stay

       Gave you that cavern to survey.

       Of lofty roof, and ample size,

       Beneath the castle deep it lies:

       To hew the living rock profound,

       The floor to pave, the arch to round,

       There never toiled a mortal arm -

       It all was wrought by word and charm;

       And I have heard my grandsire say,

       That the wild clamour and affray

       Of those dread artisans of hell,

       Who laboured under Hugo’s spell,

       Sounded as loud as ocean’s war

       Among the caverns of Dunbar.

       XX

      “The king Lord Gifford’s castle sought,

       Deep labouring with uncertain thought:

       Even then he mustered all his host,

       To meet upon the western coast:

       For Norse and Danish galleys plied

       Their oars within the frith of Clyde.

       There floated Haco’s banner trim,

       Above Norwayan warriors grim,

       Savage of heart, and large of limb;

       Threatening both continent and isle,

       Bute, Arran, Cunninghame, and Kyle.

       Lord Gifford, deep beneath the ground,

       Heard Alexander’s bugle sound,

       And tarried not his garb to change,

       But, in his wizard habit strange,

       Came forth—a quaint and fearful sight:

       His mantle lined with fox-skins white;

       His high and wrinkled forehead bore

       A pointed cap, such as of yore

       Clerks say that Pharaoh’s Magi wore:

       His shoes were marked with cross and spell,

       Upon his breast a pentacle;

       His zone, of virgin parchment thin,

       Or, as some tell, of dead man’s skin,

       Bore many a planetary sign,

       Combust, and retrograde, and trine;

       And in his hand he held prepared

       A naked sword without a guard.

       XXI

      “Dire dealings with the fiendish race

       Had marked strange lines upon his face:

       Vigil and fast had worn him grim,

       His eyesight dazzled seemed and dim,

       As one unused to upper day;

       Even his own menials with dismay

       Beheld, Sir Knight, the grisly sire,

       In his unwonted wild attire;

       Unwonted, for traditions run,

       He seldom thus beheld the sun.

       ‘I know,’ he said—his voice was hoarse,

       And broken seemed its hollow force -

       ‘I know the cause, although untold,

       Why the king seeks his vassal’s hold:

       Vainly from me my liege would know

       His kingdom’s future weal or woe

       But yet, if strong his arm and heart,

       His courage may do more than art.

       XXII

      “‘Of middle air the demons proud,

       Who ride upon the racking cloud,

       Can read, in fixed or wandering star,

       The issues of events afar;

       But still their sullen aid withhold,

       Save when by mightier force controlled.

       Such late I summoned to my hall;

       And though so potent was the call,

       That scarce the deepest nook of hell

       I deemed a refuge from the spell,

       Yet, obstinate in silence still,

       СКАЧАТЬ