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 | The poems of Madison Cawein |  |
448
THE NORMAN KNIGHT
Within the castle chamber
The Norman knight lay dead;
The quarterings of the casement
Shone holy round his head.
The Norman knight lay dead;
The quarterings of the casement
Shone holy round his head.
And first there came a maiden;
Her face was wet and white:
She kissed his mouth and murmured,
“Thou wast my own true knight.”
Her face was wet and white:
She kissed his mouth and murmured,
“Thou wast my own true knight.”
Within the arrased chamber
The Norman knight lay dead;
And tapers four and twenty
Burnt at his feet and head.
The Norman knight lay dead;
And tapers four and twenty
Burnt at his feet and head.
And next there came a friar
And prayed beside the bier:
“Thou art a blesséd angel,
Who wast so noble here.”
And prayed beside the bier:
“Thou art a blesséd angel,
Who wast so noble here.”
449
Within the lofty chamber
The Norman knight lay dead;
Dim through the carven casement
The moonbeams lit his head.
The Norman knight lay dead;
Dim through the carven casement
The moonbeams lit his head.
And then there came a varlet—
Loud laughed he in his face:
“Thus do I spit upon thee,
Thee and thy curséd race!”
Loud laughed he in his face:
“Thus do I spit upon thee,
Thee and thy curséd race!”
Within the silent chamber
The Norman knight lay dead—
Nor Norman knight nor Saxon serf
Heard aught the dead man said.
The Norman knight lay dead—
Nor Norman knight nor Saxon serf
Heard aught the dead man said.
| The poems of Madison Cawein | |