The Poetical Works of the Rev. George Croly :: :: University of Virginia Library

The final, fatal rite was duly done,
The tress was shorn, the sable veil put on,
That shades like night the day of hope and youth;
The golden ring was given, the pledge of truth,
That, bound on earth, grows firmer by the grave.
And, down the mountain's side, that splendid wave
Of beauty and bright chivalry is rushing,
To where Sidonia's palace gates are flushing
In the red setting of the summer sun.
And there are high festivities begun,

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And flags are streaming from the gilded towers,
And peasant girls are strewing bridal flowers,
And shouts and praises of the brave and fair,
Sebastian and Maria, fill the air.
Sidonia, on that day, was doom'd to part
With two he loved; the nearest to his heart
Had gone to pine her loveliness away
In the cold shadows of the convent day;
And ere upon the clouds that evening died,
Maria was to blush, Sebastian's bride.