Not that he augur'd of the doom, Which on the living closed the tomb : And deem'd restraint in convent strange Held Romish thunders idle fear, Secure his pardon he might hold, For some slight mulct of penance-gold, Thus judging, he gave secret way, Was left behind, to spare his age; Or other if they deem'd, none dared To mutter what he thought and heard : Woe to the vassal, who durst pry Into Lord Marmion's privacy! XVI. His conscience slept-he deem'd her well, And safe secured in distant cell; But, waken'd by her favourite lay, And that strange Palmer's boding say, That fell so ominous and drear, Full on the object of his fear, To aid remorse's venom'd throes, Dark tales of convent-vengeance rose; And Constance, late betray'd and scorn'd, All lovely on his soul return'd; Lovely as when, at treacherous call, Hid fears and blushes in his arms. XVII. "Alas!" he thought, "how changed that mien! "How changed these timid looks have been, "Since years of guilt, and of disguise, "Have steel'd her brow, and arm'd her eyes! "No more of virgin terror speaks "The blood that mantles in her cheeks; "Fierce, and unfeminine, are there, "Frenzy for joy, for grief despair; "And I the cause-for whom were given "Her peace on earth, her hopes in heaven! "Would," thought he, as the picture grows, "I on its stalk had left the rose ! 66 Oh, why should man's success remove "The very charms that wake his love!— "Her convent's peaceful solitude "Is now a prison harsh and rude ; 66 And, pent within the narrow cell, "How will her spirit chafe and swell! "How brook the stern monastic laws! "The penance how-and I the cause !— "Vigil and scourge-perchance even worse!"And twice he rose to cry "To horse!" And twice his Sovereign's mandate came, And twice he thought, "Gave I not charge "She should be safe, though not at large? 66 They durst not, for their island, shred "One golden ringlet from her head." XVIII. While thus in Marmion's bosom strove Repentance and reviving love, Like whirlwinds, whose contending sway I've seen Loch Vennachar obey, Their Host the Palmer's speech had heard, And, talkative, took up the word : "Ay, reverend Pilgrim, you, who stray "From Scotland's simple land away, "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, knight-like, he despises fear, "Not far from hence ;-if fathers old 66 Aright our hamlet legend told.”— These broken words the menials move, (For marvels still the vulgar love ;) And, Marmion giving licence cold, His tale the Host thus gladly told : XIX. The Host's Tale. "A Clerk could tell what years have flown "Since Alexander fill'd 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. |