The Downing legends : Stories in Rhyme :: :: University of Virginia Library

“Cornelie, then, my cousin's wife,
Made intercession for that life
With such a piercing woman-wail
That all who harkened turned a-pale
And stared askant with sullen brow,
And muttered, ‘Will he break the vow?’
For every heart was hard with greed
To win the promised gain of speed.

Ah, maddened soul! I said her Nay,
And briskly foamed along my way,
While swifter still that vessel span

[_]

Spun; whirled. “When Adam delved and Eve span.”

And flyted from the sight of man,
Although I know not how it fled,
If underneath or overhead;
For where it span a wondrous light
Of dazzling pinions dimmed the sight,
And when the glory skyward shone
The mere was clear and we alone.

187

The deed was done, my sin complete,
And vengeance came on speedy feet;
For scarcely, could I turn to gaze
Along the prow for landward haze
Before a flying 'larum passed
That cried above our tallest mast:
‘Behold, O waves, behold these men,
And hold them till I come agen!’

Then wept Cornelie, ‘We are lost,
For that was Jesus tempest-tost,—
And thou deniedst him, and we
Are dungeoned in a gateless sea.’

Had any man such omen spoke,
I would have dealt him mortal stroke,
So arrogant was I in mind,
And sudden fierce to humankind.
Yet soothfully had she divined
Our crowning sin and coming woe.
Alas! as often haps below,
The innocent was doomed to share
Sin's punishment and sin's despair.