XII.

And once my arm was lifted to hew down
A cavalier from off his saddle-bow,
That bore a lady from a leaguered town;
And then, I know not how,

XIII.

All those sharp fancies, by down-lapsing thought

Streamed onward, lost their edges, and did creep Rolled on each other, rounded, smoothed, and brought Into the gulfs of sleep.

XIV.

At last methought that I had wandered far

In an old wood: fresh-washed in coolest dew, The maiden splendors of the morning star

Shook in the steadfast blue.

XV.

Enormous elm-tree boles did stoop and lean
Upon the dusky brushwood underneath

Their broad curved branches, fledged with clearest green
New from its silken sheath.

XVI.

The dim red morn had died, her journey done,
And with dead lips smiled at the twilight plain,
Half-fallen across the threshold of the sun,

Never to rise again.

XVII.

There was no motion in the dumb dead air,
Not any song of bird or sound of rill;
Gross darkness of the inner sepulchre
Is not so deadly still

XVIII.

As that wide forest. Growths of jasmine turned
Their humid arms festooning tree to tree,
And at the root through lush green grasses burned
The red anemone.

XIX.

I knew the flowers, I knew the leaves, I knew

The tearful glimmer of the languid dawn

On those long, rank, dark wood-walks drenched in dew Leading from lawn to lawn.

XX.

The smell of violets, hidden in the green,

Poured back into my empty soul and frame The times when I remember to have been

Joyful and free from blame.

XXI.

And from within me a clear under-tone

Thrilled through mine ears in that unblissful clime, "Pass freely through! the wood is all thine own,

Until the end of time."

XXII.

At length I saw a lady within call,

Stiller than chiselled marble, standing there;

A daughter of the gods, divinely tall,

And most divinely fair.

XXIII.

Her loveliness with shame and with surprise

Froze my swift speech; she turning on my face

The star-like sorrows of immortal eyes,

Spoke slowly in her place.

XXIV.

"1 had great beauty: ask thou not my name:
No one can be more wise than destiny.
Many drew swords and died. Where'er I came
I brought calamity."

XXV.

"No marvel, sovereign lady! in fair field, Myself for such a face had boldly died," I answered free, and turning I appealed

To one that stood beside.

XXVI.

But she, with sick and scornful looks averse,

66

To her full height her stately stature draws; "My youth," she said, "was blasted with a curse:

This woman was the cause.

XXVII.

"I was cut off from hope in that sad place,

Which yet to name my spirit loathes and fears:

My father held his hand upon his face:

I, blinded with my tears,

XXVIII.

"Still strove to speak: my voice was thick with sighs

As in a dream. Dimly I could descry

The stern black-bearded kings with wolfish eyes,
Waiting to see me die.

XXIX.

"The high masts flicker'd as they lay afloat;

The crowds, the temples, waver'd, and the shore; The bright death quiver'd at the victim's throat; Touch'd; and I knew no more."

XXX.

Whereto the other with a downward brow:

"I would the white cold heavy-plunging foam, Whirled by the wind, had rolled me deep below,

Her slow full words sank through the silence drear,
As thunder-drops fall on a sleeping sea:

Sudden I heard a voice that cried, "Come here,

'That I may look on thee."