 | Rhymes of travel, ballads and poems |  |
95
THE ENCHANTED KNIGHT.
In the solemn night, when the soul receives
The dreams it has sighed for long,
I mused o'er the charmed, romantic leaves
Of a book of German Song.
The dreams it has sighed for long,
I mused o'er the charmed, romantic leaves
Of a book of German Song.
From stately towers I saw the lords
Ride out to the feudal fray;
I heard the ring of meeting swords
And the Minnesinger's lay!
Ride out to the feudal fray;
I heard the ring of meeting swords
And the Minnesinger's lay!
And, gliding ghost-like through my dream,
Went the Erl-king with a moan,
Where the wizard willow o'erhung the stream
And the spectral moonlight shone.
Went the Erl-king with a moan,
Where the wizard willow o'erhung the stream
And the spectral moonlight shone.
I followed the hero's path, who rode
In harness and helmet bright,
Through a wood where hostile elves abode,
In the glimmering noon of night.
In harness and helmet bright,
Through a wood where hostile elves abode,
In the glimmering noon of night.
96
Banner and bugle's call had died
Amid the shadows far,
And a misty stream, from the mountain side,
Dropped like a silver star.
Amid the shadows far,
And a misty stream, from the mountain side,
Dropped like a silver star.
Thirsting and flushed, from the steed he leapt,
And quaffed from his helm unbound;
Then a mystic trance o'er his spirit crept
And he sank to the elfin ground.
And quaffed from his helm unbound;
Then a mystic trance o'er his spirit crept
And he sank to the elfin ground.
He slept in the ceaseless midnight cold
By the faery spell possessed,
His head sunk down, and his gray beard rolled
On the rust of his armèd breast!
By the faery spell possessed,
His head sunk down, and his gray beard rolled
On the rust of his armèd breast!
When a mighty storm-wind smote the trees
And the crashing thunder fell,
He raised the sword from its mould'ring ease
And strove to burst the spell.
And the crashing thunder fell,
He raised the sword from its mould'ring ease
And strove to burst the spell.
And thus may the fiery soul, that rides
Like a knight to the field of foes,
Drink of the chill world's tempting tides
And sink to a charmed repose.
Like a knight to the field of foes,
Drink of the chill world's tempting tides
And sink to a charmed repose.
The warmth of the generous heart of Youth
Will die in the frozen breast—
The look of Love and the voice of Truth
Be charmed to a palsied rest!
Will die in the frozen breast—
97
Be charmed to a palsied rest!
In vain will the thunder a moment burst
The chill of that torpor's breath;
The slumbering soul shall be wakened first
By the Disenchanter, Death!
The chill of that torpor's breath;
The slumbering soul shall be wakened first
By the Disenchanter, Death!
| Rhymes of travel, ballads and poems | |