FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   536   537   538   539   540   541   542   543   544   545   546   547   548   549   550   551   552   553   554   555   556   557   558   559   560  
561   562   563   564   565   566   567   568   569   570   571   572   573   574   575   576   577   578   579   580   581   582   583   584   585   >>   >|  
es, But with his dismal, tinkling bell. That mocks and mimics their funeral knell. CRIER OP THE DEAD. Wake! wake! All ye that sleep! Pray for the Dead! Pray for the Dead! PRINCE HENRY. Wake not, beloved! be thy sleep Silent as night is, and as deep! There walks a sentinel at thy gate Whose heart is heavy and desolate, And the heavings of whose bosom number The respirations of thy slumber, As if some strange, mysterious fate Had linked two hearts in one, and mine Went madly wheeling about thine, Only with wider and wilder sweep! CRIER OP THE DEAD, at a distance. Wake! wake! All ye that sleep! Pray for the Dead! Pray for the Dead! PRINCE HENRY. Lo! with what depth of blackness thrown Against the clouds, far up the skies The walls of the cathedral rise, Like a mysterious grove of stone, With fitful lights and shadows blending, As from behind, the moon ascending, Lights its dim aisles and paths unknown! The wind is rising; but the boughs Rise not and fall not with the wind, That through their foliage sobs and soughs; Only the cloudy rack behind, Drifting onward, wild and ragged, Gives to each spire and buttress jagged A seeming motion undefined. Below on the square, an armed knight, Still as a statue and as white, Sits on his steed, and the moonbeams quiver Upon the points of his armor bright As on the ripples of a river. He lifts the visor from his cheek, And beckons, and makes as he would speak. WALTER the Minnesinger. Friend! can you tell me where alight Thuringia's horsemen for the night? For I have lingered in the rear, And wander vainly up and down. PRINCE HENRY. I am a stranger in the town. As thou art; but the voice I hear Is not a stranger to mine ear. Thou art Walter of the Vogelweid! WALTER. Thou hast guessed rightly; and thy name Is Henry of Hoheneck! PRINCE HENRY. Ay, the same. WALTER, embracing him. Come closer, closer to my side! What brings thee hither? What potent charm Has drawn thee from thy German farm Into the old Alsatian city? PRINCE HENRY. A tale of wonder and of pity! A wretched man, almost by stealth Dragging my body to Salem, In the vain hope and search for health, And destined never to return. Already thou hast heard the rest. But what brings thee, thus armed and dight In the equipments of a knight? WALTER. Dost thou not see upon my breast The cross of the Crusaders
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   536   537   538   539   540   541   542   543   544   545   546   547   548   549   550   551   552   553   554   555   556   557   558   559   560  
561   562   563   564   565   566   567   568   569   570   571   572   573   574   575   576   577   578   579   580   581   582   583   584   585   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

PRINCE

 
WALTER
 

stranger

 

mysterious

 
brings
 

knight

 
closer
 

wander

 

vainly

 

Minnesinger


beckons

 

bright

 

ripples

 

Walter

 

Thuringia

 

horsemen

 

alight

 
Friend
 

lingered

 

search


health
 

destined

 
stealth
 
Dragging
 

return

 

Already

 

breast

 

Crusaders

 
equipments
 

wretched


embracing

 
rightly
 

guessed

 

Hoheneck

 

potent

 

Alsatian

 

points

 

German

 

Vogelweid

 

ragged


hearts

 

wheeling

 

linked

 

strange

 

thrown

 
blackness
 

Against

 
clouds
 

wilder

 

distance