IV.

"Now broach ye a pipe of Malvoisie,

"Bring pasties of the doe,

"And quickly make the entrance free,

"And bid my heralds ready be,

"And every minstrel sound his glee,

"And all our trumpets blow;

"And, from the platform, spare ye not

"To fire a noble salvo-shot;

"Lord Marmion waits below."—

Then to the Castle's lower ward

Sped forty yeomen tall,

The iron-studded gates unbarr'd,

Raised the portcullis' ponderous guard,

The lofty palisade unsparr'd,

And let the draw-bridge fall.

V.

Along the bridge Lord Marmion rode.

Proudly his red-roan charger trod,

His helm hung at the saddle-bow;

Well by his visage you might know
He was a stalworth knight, and keen,

And had in many a battle been ;

The scar on his brown cheek reveal'd

A token true of Bosworth field;

His eye-brow dark, and eye of fire,
Shew'd spirit proud, and prompt to ire;
Yet lines of thought upon his cheek
Did deep design and counsel speak.

His forehead, by his casque worn bare,

His thick moustache, and curly hair,

Coal-black, and grizzled here and there,
But more through toil than age;

His square-turn'd joints, and strength of limb,
Shew'd him no carpet Knight so trim,

But, in close fight, a champion grim,

In camps, a leader sage.

C

VI.

Well was he arm'd from head to heel,

In mail, and plate, of Milan steel;

But his strong helm, of mighty cost,

Was all with burnish'd gold emboss'd;
Amid the plumage of the crest,

A falcon hover'd on her nest,

With wings outspread, and forward breast;

Een such a falcon, on his shield,

Soar'd sable in an azure field:

The golden legend bore aright,

Who checks at me, to death is dight.

Blue was the charger's broider'd rein;
Blue ribbons deck'd his arching mane;

The knightly housing's ample fold

Was velvet blue, and trapp'd with gold.

VII.

Behind him rode two gallant squires,

Of noble name, and knightly sires;

They burn'd the gilded spurs to claim;

For well could each a war-horse tame,

Could draw the bow, the sword could sway,

And lightly bear the ring away;

Nor less with courteous precepts stored,
Could dance in hall, and carve at board,
And frame love-ditties passing rare,

And sing them to a lady fair.

VIII.

Four men-at-arms came at their backs,

With halbert, bill, and battle-axe:

They bore Lord Marmion's lance so strong,

And led his sumpter-mules along,

And ambling palfrey, when at need

Him listed ease his battle-steed.

The last, and trustiest of the four,

On high his forky pennon bore;
Like swallow's tail, in shape and hue,

Flutter'd the streamer glossy blue,

Where, blazon'd sable, as before,

The towering falcon seem'd to soar.
Last, twenty yeomen, two and two,
In hosen black, and jerkins blue,
With falcons broider'd on each breast,

Attended on their lord's behest.

Each, chosen for an archer good,
Knew hunting-craft by lake or wood;

Each one a six-foot bow could bend,
And far a cloth-yard shaft could send;
Each held a boar-spear tough and strong,

And at their belts their quivers rung.

Their dusty palfreys, and array,

Shew'd they had march'd a weary way.

IX.

"Tis meet that I should tell you now,

How fairly arm'd, and order'd how,

The soldiers of the guard,