William Wordsworth

The White Doe Of Rylstone 2

Canto Second

THE Harp in lowliness obeyed; And first we sang of the greenwood shade And a solitary Maid; Beginning, where the song must end, With her, and with her sylvan Friend; The Friend who stood before her sight, Her only unextinguished light; Her last companion in a dearth Of love, upon a hopeless earth. For She it was--this Maid, who wrought Meekly, with foreboding thought, In vermeil colours and in gold An unblest work; which, standing by, Her Father did with joy behold,-- Exulting in its imagery; A Banner, fashioned to fulfil Too perfectly his headstrong will: For on this Banner had her hand Embroidered (such her Sire's command) The sacred Cross; and figured there The five dear wounds our Lord did bear; Full soon to be uplifted high, And float in rueful company! It was the time when England's Queen Twelve years had reigned, a Sovereign dread; Nor yet the restless crown had been Disturbed upon her virgin head; But now the inly-working North Was ripe to send its thousands forth, A potent vassalage, to fight In Percy's and in Neville's right, Two Earls fast leagued in discontent, Who gave their wishes open vent; And boldly urged a general plea, The rites of ancient piety To be triumphantly restored, By the stern justice of the sword! And that same Banner, on whose breast The blameless Lady had exprest Memorials chosen to give life And sunshine to a dangerous strife; That Banner, waiting for the Call, Stood quietly in Rylstone-hall. It came; and Francis Norton said, "O Father! rise not in this fray-- The hairs are white upon your head; Dear Father, hear me when I say It is for you too late a day! Bethink you of your own good name: A just and gracious Queen have we, A pure religion, and the claim Of peace on our humanity.-- 'Tis meet that I endure your scorn; I am your son, your eldest born; But not for lordship or for land, My Father, do I clasp your knees; The Banner touch not, stay your hand, This multitude of men disband, And live at home in blameless ease; For these my brethren's sake, for me; And, most of all, for Emily!" Tumultuous noises filled the hall; And scarcely could the Father hear That name--pronounced with a dying fall-- The name of his only Daughter dear, As on the banner which stood near He glanced a look of holy pride, And his moist eyes were glorified; Then did he seize the staff, and say: "Thou, Richard, bear'st thy father's name, Keep thou this ensign till the day When I of thee require the same: Thy place be on my better hand;-- And seven as true as thou, I see, Will cleave to this good cause and me." He spake, and eight brave sons straightway All followed him, a gallant band! Thus, with his sons, when forth he came The sight was hailed with loud acclaim And din of arms and minstrelsy, From all his warlike tenantry, All horsed and harnessed with him to ride,-- A voice to which the hills replied! But Francis, in the vacant hall, Stood silent under dreary weight,-- A phantasm, in which roof and wall Shook, tottered, swam before his sight; A phantasm like a dream of night! Thus overwhelmed, and desolate, He found his way to a postern-gate; And, when he waked, his languid eye Was on the calm and silent sky; With air about him breathing sweet, And earth's green grass beneath his feet; Nor did he fail ere long to hear A sound of military cheer, Faint--but it reached that sheltered spot; He heard, and it disturbed him not. There stood he, leaning on a lance Which he had grasped unknowingly, Had blindly grasped in that strong trance, That dimness of heart-agony; There stood he, cleansed from the despair And sorrow of his fruitless prayer. The past he calmly hath reviewed: But where will be the fortitude Of this brave man, when he shall see That Form beneath the spreading tree, And know that it is Emily? He saw her where in open view She sate beneath the spreading yew-- Her head upon her lap, concealing In solitude her bitter feeling: "Might ever son 'command' a sire, The act were justified to-day." This to himself--and to the Maid, Whom now he had approached, he said-- "Gone are they,--they have their desire; And I with thee one hour will stay, To give thee comfort if I may." She heard, but looked not up, nor spake; And sorrow moved him to partake Her silence; then his thoughts turned round, And fervent words a passage found. "Gone are they, bravely, though misled; With a dear Father at their head! The Sons obey a natural lord; The Father had given solemn word To noble Percy; and a force Still stronger, bends him to his course. This said, our tears to-day may fall As at an innocent funeral. In deep and awful channel runs This sympathy of Sire and Sons; Untried our Brothers have been loved With heart by simple nature moved; And now their faithfulness is proved: For faithful we must call them, bearing That soul of conscientious daring. --There were they all in circle--there Stood Richard, Ambrose, Christopher, John with a sword that will not fail, And Marmaduke in fearless mail, And those bright Twins were side by side; And there, by fresh hopes beautified, Stood He, whose arm yet lacks the power Of man, our youngest, fairest flower! I, by the right of eldest born, And in a second father's place, Presumed to grapple with their scorn, And meet their pity face to face; Yea, trusting in God's holy aid, I to my Father knelt and prayed; And one, the pensive Marmaduke, Methought, was yielding inwardly, And would have laid his purpose by, But for a glance of his Father's eye, Which I myself could scarcely brook. Then be we, each and all, forgiven! Thou, chiefly thou, my Sister dear, Whose pangs are registered in heaven-- The stifled sigh, the hidden tear, And smiles, that dared to take their place, Meek filial smiles, upon thy face, As that unhallowed Banner grew Beneath a loving old Man's view. Thy part is done--thy painful part; Be thou then satisfied in heart! A further, though far easier, task Than thine hath been, my duties ask; With theirs my efforts cannot blend, I cannot for such cause contend; Their aims I utterly forswear; But I in body will be there. Unarmed and naked will I go, Be at their side, come weal or woe: On kind occasions I may wait, See, hear, obstruct, or mitigate. Bare breast I take and an empty hand."-- Therewith he threw away the lance, Which he had grasped in that strong trance, Spurned it, like something that would stand Between him and the pure intent Of love on which his soul was bent. "For thee, for thee, is left the sense Of trial past without offence To God or man; such innocence, Such consolation, and the excess Of an unmerited distress; In that thy very strength must lie. --O Sister, I could prophesy! The time is come that rings the knell Of all we loved, and loved so well: Hope nothing, if I thus may speak To thee, a woman, and thence weak: Hope nothing, I repeat; for we Are doomed to perish utterly: 'Tis meet that thou with me divide The thought while I am by thy side, Acknowledging a grace in this, A comfort in the dark abyss. But look not for me when I am gone, And be no farther wrought upon: Farewell all wishes, all debate, All prayers for this cause, or for that! Weep, if that aid thee; but depend Upon no help of outward friend; Espouse thy doom at once, and cleave To fortitude without reprieve. For we must fall, both we and ours-- This Mansion and these pleasant bowers, Walks, pools, and arbours, homestead, hall-- Our fate is theirs, will reach them all; The young horse must forsake his manger, And learn to glory in a Stranger; The hawk forget his perch; the hound Be parted from his ancient ground: The blast will sweep us all away-- One desolation, one decay! And even this Creature!" which words saying, He pointed to a lovely Doe, A few steps distant, feeding, straying; Fair creature, and more white than snow! "Even she will to her peaceful woods Return, and to her murmuring floods, And be in heart and soul the same She was before she hither came; Ere she had learned to love us all, Herself beloved in Rylstone-hall. --But thou, my Sister, doomed to be The last leaf on a blasted tree; If not in vain we breathed the breath Together of a purer faith; If hand in hand we have been led, And thou, (O happy thought this day Not seldom foremost in the way; If on one thought our minds have fed, And we have in one meaning read; If, when at home our private weal Hath suffered from the shock of zeal, Together we have learned to prize Forbearance and self-sacrifice; If we like combatants have fared, And for this issue been prepared; If thou art beautiful, and youth And thought endue thee with all truth-- Be strong;--be worthy of the grace Of God, and fill thy destined place: A Soul, by force of sorrows high, Uplifted to the purest sky Of undisturbed humanity!" He ended,--or she heard no more; He led her from the yew-tree shade, And at the mansion's silent door, He kissed the consecrated Maid; And down the valley then pursued, Alone, the armed Multitude.

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