ne'er before that face to me
Had seemed so ghastly pale.

"Come hither, boy!" my uncle said--
I started at the sound;
'Twas choked and stifled, in his throat,
And hardly utterance found;
"Come hither, boy!" then fearfully
He cast his eyes around.

"That lady was thy mother once--
Thou wert her only child;
O God! I've seen her when she held
Thee in her arms and smiled--
She smiled upon thy father, boy,
'Twas that which drove me wild!

"He was my brother, but his form
Was fairer far than mine;
I grudged not that;--he was the prop
Of our ancestral line,
And manly beauty was of him
A token and a sign.

"Boy! I had loved her too--nay, more,
'Twas I who loved her first;
For months--for years--the golden thought
Within my soul was nursed;
He came--he conquered--they were wed--
My air-blown bubble burst!

"Then on my mind a shadow fell,
And evil hopes grew rife;
The damning thought stuck in my heart,
And cut me like a knife,
That she, whom all my days I loved,
Should be another's wife!

"I left my home--I left the land--
I crossed the raging sea;
In vain--in vain--where'er I turned,
My memory went with me;
My whole existence, night and day,
In memory seemed to be.

"I came again, I found them here--
Thou'rt like thy father, boy--
He doted on that pale face there,
I've seen them kiss and toy--
I've seen him locked in her fond arms,
Wrapped in delirious joy!

"By Heaven! it was a fearful thing,
To see my brother now,
And mark the placid calm that sat
Forever on his brow,
That seemed in bitter scorn to say,
I am more loved than thou!

"He disappeared--draw nearer, child!--
He died--no one knew how;
The murdered body ne'er was found,
The tale is hushed up now;
But there was one who rightly guessed
The hand that struck the blow.

"It drove her mad--yet not his death--
No--not his death alone;
For she had clung to hope, when all
Knew well that there was none;
No, boy! it was a sight she saw
That froze her into stone!

"I am thy uncle, child--why stare
So frightfully aghast?--
The arras waves, but know'st thou not