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the lady of the lake-第10部分

小说: the lady of the lake 字数: 每页4000字

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n wail the dead。'  Then weapon… clang and martial call  Resounded through the funeral hall;  While from the walls the attendant band  Snatched sword and targe with hurried hand; And short and flitting energy  Glanced from the mourner's sunken eye;  As if the sounds to warrior dear  Might rouse her Duncan from his bier。  But faded soon that borrowed force;  Grief claimed his right; and tears their course。


XIX。

Benledi saw the Cross of Fire;  It glanced dike lightning up Strath…Ire。  O'er dale and hill the summons flew;  Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew;  The tear that gathered in his eye  He deft the mountain…breeze to dry;  Until; where Teith's young waters roll  Betwixt him and a wooded knoll  That graced the sable strath with green;  The chapel of Saint Bride was seen。  Swoln was the stream; remote the bridge;  But Angus paused not on the edge;  Though the clerk waves danced dizzily;  Though reeled his sympathetic eye;  He dashed amid the torrent's roar:  His right hand high the crosslet bore;  His left the pole…axe grasped; to guide  And stay his footing in the tide。  He stumbled twice;the foam splashed high;  With hoarser swell the stream raced by;  And had he fallen;forever there;  Farewell Duncraggan's orphan heir!  But still; as if in parting life;  Firmer he grasped the Cross of strife; Until the opposing bank he gained;  And up the chapel pathway strained。 A blithesome rout that morning…tide  Had sought the chapel of Saint Bride。  Her troth Tombea's Mary gave  To Norman; heir of Armandave;  And; issuing from the Gothic arch;  The bridal now resumed their march。  In rude but glad procession came  Bonneted sire and coif…clad dame;  And plaided youth; with jest and jeer  Which snooded maiden would not hear:  And children; that; unwitting why;  Lent the gay shout their shrilly cry;  And minstrels; that in measures vied  Before the young and bonny bride;  Whose downcast eye and cheek disclose  The tear and blush of morning rose。  With virgin step and bashful hand  She held the kerchief's snowy band。  The gallant bridegroom by her side  Beheld his prize with victor's pride。  And the glad mother in her ear  Was closely whispering word of cheer。


XXI。

Who meets them at the churchyard gate?  The messenger of fear and fate!  Haste in his hurried accent lies;  And grief is swimming in his eyes。  All dripping from the recent flood;  Panting and travel…soiled he stood;  The fatal sign of fire and sword  Held forth; and spoke the appointed word: 'The muster…place is Lanrick mead; Speed forth the signal! Norman; speed!' And must he change so soon the hand Just linked to his by holy band; For the fell Cross of blood and brand? And must the day so blithe that rose; And promised rapture in the close; Before its setting hour; divide The bridegroom from the plighted bride? O fatal doom'it must! it must! Clan…Alpine's cause; her Chieftain's trust; Her summons dread; brook no delay; Stretch to the race;away! away!


XXII。

Yet slow he laid his plaid aside; And lingering eyed his lovely bride; Until he saw the starting tear Speak woe he might not stop to cheer: Then; trusting not a second look; In haste he sped hind up the brook; Nor backward glanced till on the heath Where Lubnaig's lake supplies the Teith; What in the racer's bosom stirred? The sickening pang of hope deferred; And memory with a torturing train Of all his morning visions vain。 Mingled with love's impatience; came The manly thirst for martial fame; The stormy joy of mountaineers Ere yet they rush upon the spears ; And zeal for Clan and Chieftain burning; And hope; from well…fought field returning; With war's red honors on his crest; To clasp his Mary to his breast。 Stung by such thoughts; o'er bank and brae; Like fire from flint he glanced away; While high resolve and feeling strong Burst into voluntary song。


XXIII。

Song。

The heath this night must be my bed; The bracken curtain for my head; My lullaby the warder's tread;      Far; far; from love and thee; Mary; To… morrow eve; more stilly laid; My couch may be my bloody plaid; My vesper song thy wail; sweet maid!      It will not waken me; Mary!

I may not; dare not; fancy now The grief that clouds thy lovely brow; I dare not think upon thy vow;      And all it promised me; Mary。 No fond regret must Norman know; When bursts Clan…Alpine on the foe; His heart must be like bended bow;      His foot like arrow free; Mary。

A time will come with feeling fraught; For; if I fall in battle fought; Thy hapless lover's dying thought      Shall be a thought on thee; Mary。 And if returned from conquered foes; How blithely will the evening close; How sweet the linnet sing repose;      To my young bride and me; Mary!


XXIV。

Not faster o'er thy heathery braes Balquidder; speeds the midnight blaze; Rushing in conflagration strong Thy deep ravines and dells along; Wrapping thy cliffs in purple glow; And reddening the dark lakes below; Nor faster speeds it; nor so far; As o'er thy heaths the voice of war。 The signal roused to martial coil The sullen margin of Loch Voil; Waked still Loch Doine; and to the source Alarmed; Balvaig; thy swampy course; Thence southward turned its rapid road  Adown Strath…Gartney's valley broad Till rose in arms each man might claim A portion in Clan…Alpine's name; From the gray sire; whose trembling hand Could hardly buckle on his brand; To the raw boy; whose shaft and bow Were yet scarce terror to the crow。 Each valley; each sequestered glen; Mustered its little horde of men That met as torrents from the height In Highland dales their streams unite Still gathering; as they pour along; A voice more loud; a tide more strong; Till at the rendezvous they stood By hundreds prompt for blows and blood; Each trained to arms since life began; Owning no tie but to his clan;  No oath but by his chieftain's hand; No law but Roderick Dhu's command。


XXV。

That summer morn had Roderick Dhu Surveyed the skirts of Benvenue; And sent his scouts o'er hill and heath; To view the frontiers of Menteith。 All backward came with news of truce; Still lay each martial Graeme and Bruce; In Rednock courts no horsemen wait; No banner waved on Cardross gate; On Duchray's towers no beacon shone; Nor scared the herons from Loch Con; All seemed at peace。Now wot ye wily The Chieftain with such anxious eye; Ere to the muster he repair; This western frontier scanned with care? In Benvenue's most darksome cleft; A fair though cruel pledge was left; For Douglas; to his promise true; That morning from the isle withdrew; And in a deep sequestered dell Had sought a low and lonely cell。 By many a bard in Celtic tongue Has Coir…nan…Uriskin been sung A softer name the Saxons gave; And called the grot the Goblin Cave。


XXVI。

It was a wild and strange retreat; As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet。 The dell; upon the mountain's crest; Yawned like a gash on warrior's breast; Its trench had stayed full many a rock; Hurled by primeval earthquake shock From Benvenue's gray summit wild; And here; in random ruin piled; They frowned incumbent o'er the spot And formed the rugged sylvan 〃rot。 The oak and birch with mingled shade At noontide there a twilight made; Unless when short and sudden shone Some straggling beam on cliff or stone; With such a glimpse as prophet's eye Gains on thy depth; Futurity。 No murmur waked the solemn still; Save tinkling of a fountain rill; But when the wind chafed with the lake; A sullen sound would upward break; With dashing hollow voice; that spoke The incessant war of wave and rock。 Suspended cliffs with hideous sway Seemed nodding o'er the cavern gray。 From such a den the wolf had sprung; In such the wild…cat leaves her young; Yet Douglas and his daughter fair Sought for a space their safety there。 Gray Superstition's whisper dread Debarred the spot to vulgar tread; For there; she said; did fays resort; And satyrs hold their sylvan court; By moonlight tread their mystic maze; And blast the rash beholder's gaze。


XXVII。

Now eve; with western shadows long; Floated on Katrine bright and strong; When Roderick with a chosen few Repassed the heights of Benvenue。 Above the Goblin Cave they go; Through the wild pass of Beal…nam…bo; The prompt retainers speed before; To launch the shallop from the shore; For 'cross Loch Katrine lies his way To view the passes of Achray; And place his clansmen in array。 Yet lags the Chief in musing mind; Unwonted sight; his men behind。 A single page; to bear his sword; Alone attended on his lord; The rest their way through thickets break; And soon await him by the lake。 It was a fair and gallant sight To view them from the neighboring height; By the low…levelled sunbeam's light! For strength and stature; from the clan Each warrior was a chosen man; As even afar might well be seen; By their proud step and martial mien。 heir feathers dance; their tartars float; Their targets gleam; as by the boat A wild and warlike group they stand; That well became such mountain…strand。


XXVI

Their Chief with step reluctant still Was lingering on the craggy hill; Hard by where turned apart the road To Douglas's obscure abode。 It was but with that dawning morn That Roderick Dhu had proudly sworn To drown his love in war's wild roar; Nor think of Ellen Douglas more; But he 

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