The Lady of the Lake eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 305 pages of information about The Lady of the Lake.

The Lady of the Lake eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 305 pages of information about The Lady of the Lake.

XVII.

’Sweet Ellen, dear my life must be,
Since it is worthy care from thee;
et life I hold but idle breath
When love or honor’s weighed with death. 
Then let me profit by my chance,
And speak my purpose bold at once. 
I come to bear thee from a wild
Where ne’er before such blossom smiled,
By this soft hand to lead thee far
From frantic scenes of feud and war. 
Near Bochastle my horses wait;
They bear us soon to Stirling gate. 
I’ll place thee in a lovely bower,
I’ll guard thee like a tender flower—­’
’O hush, Sir Knight! ’t were female art,
To say I do not read thy heart;
Too much, before, my selfish ear
Was idly soothed my praise to hear. 
That fatal bait hath lured thee back,
In deathful hour, o’er dangerous track;
And how, O how, can I atone
The wreck my vanity brought on!—­
One way remains—­I’ll tell him all—­
Yes! struggling bosom, forth it shall! 
Thou, whose light folly bears the blame,
Buy thine own pardon with thy shame! 
But first—­my father is a man
Outlawed and exiled, under ban;
The price of blood is on his head,
With me ’t were infamy to wed. 
Still wouldst thou speak?—­then hear the truth! 
Fitz- James, there is a noble youth—­
If yet he is!—­exposed for me
And mine to dread extremity—­
Thou hast the secret of my bears;
Forgive, be generous, and depart!’

XVIII.

Fitz-James knew every wily train
A lady’s fickle heart to gain,
But here he knew and felt them vain. 
There shot no glance from Ellen’s eye,
To give her steadfast speech the lie;
In maiden confidence she stood,
Though mantled in her cheek the blood
And told her love with such a sigh
Of deep and hopeless agony,
As death had sealed her Malcolm’s doom
And she sat sorrowing on his tomb. 
Hope vanished from Fitz-James’s eye,
But not with hope fled sympathy. 
He proffered to attend her side,
As brother would a sister guide. 
’O little know’st thou Roderick’s heart! 
Safer for both we go apart. 
O haste thee, and from Allan learn
If thou mayst trust yon wily kern.’ 
With hand upon his forehead laid,
The conflict of his mind to shade,
A parting step or two he made;
Then, as some thought had crossed his brain
He paused, and turned, and came again.

XIX.

’Hear, lady, yet a parting word!—­
It chanced in fight that my poor sword
Preserved the life of Scotland’s lord. 
This ring the grateful Monarch gave,
And bade, when I had boon to crave,
To bring it back, and boldly claim
The recompense that I would name. 
Ellen, I am no courtly lord,
But one who lives by lance and sword,
Whose castle is his helm and shield,
His lordship the embattled field. 

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Lady of the Lake from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.