Alfred the Great England's darling: By Alfred Austin ... Fifth edition |
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| V. | SCENE V |
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 | Alfred the Great |  |
78
SCENE V
[Evening in the Forest.]EDGIVA.
The goldings by the brooklet all are closed.
'Twill soon be nightfall.
ALFRED.
And, like them, your lids
Droop on your eyes. 'Tis time for you to rest.
EDGIVA.
First let me smooth for you a mossy bed,
Under this oak.
ALFRED.
Think not, my child, of me;
For I am wakeful, and there yet is light
Whereby to read a little. But your limbs
Are fain to doff the heavy load of day,
And sink upon their weariness. Lie there,
Within the hollow of that puckered yew,
Whose boughs hath fashioned many a Saxon bow.
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They say the Virgin Mother sought its shade,
Fleeing to Egypt; so no bolt will smite
Its hallowed trunk.
[She falls asleep.]
ALFRED.
Already doth she dream,
Way-weary child.
[He places a posy of cowslips in her hand.]Way-weary child.
These sleepy cowslip bells
Will keep her dream-lids drowsy till the dawn.
Will keep her dream-lids drowsy till the dawn.
How many hands it takes to build a State!
First there be those that shape and drive the share,
Yoke the meek oxen, fold and milk the ewes,
Hunt hart and boar and buck, harpoon the whale,
With cunning gin and bait ensnare the fowl,
From well-tanned fells weave hose and bridle-thongs,
Pouches and hide-vats,—skilled in toil and craft.
Then come the worthier sort that bear the shield,
Fear only God, and never show their backs
Though faced by spears a hundredfold their own.
Last but not least are those that watch and pray,
For under God it is we work and war.
All these there be, and they are at my side,
To fashion England. What it lacks is learning:
And o' how slow to learn is this stark stock,
Stark but unshapely, and with dullard ears
For sound and sense and soul of things unseen!
To every Bishop in the land, when once
The Danish Raven flickers, must I send
A copy of Pope Gregory's Pastoral,
With golden seal worth fifty mancuses,
And every English boy must read and con
The Chronicle of this his cradle-land,
Growing apace and nigh upon our time,
That tells him whence he came, and what those did
Whose deeds are in his veins. But, above all,
All men must learn its minstrelsy, and lift
Their hearts above the ground on wings of song.
For Song it is that spans the mighty world,
Brings the far near, lends light where all is dark,
Gives sorrow sweetness, and helps man to live
And die more nobly!
First there be those that shape and drive the share,
Yoke the meek oxen, fold and milk the ewes,
Hunt hart and boar and buck, harpoon the whale,
With cunning gin and bait ensnare the fowl,
From well-tanned fells weave hose and bridle-thongs,
Pouches and hide-vats,—skilled in toil and craft.
Then come the worthier sort that bear the shield,
Fear only God, and never show their backs
Though faced by spears a hundredfold their own.
80
For under God it is we work and war.
All these there be, and they are at my side,
To fashion England. What it lacks is learning:
And o' how slow to learn is this stark stock,
Stark but unshapely, and with dullard ears
For sound and sense and soul of things unseen!
To every Bishop in the land, when once
The Danish Raven flickers, must I send
A copy of Pope Gregory's Pastoral,
With golden seal worth fifty mancuses,
And every English boy must read and con
The Chronicle of this his cradle-land,
Growing apace and nigh upon our time,
That tells him whence he came, and what those did
Whose deeds are in his veins. But, above all,
All men must learn its minstrelsy, and lift
Their hearts above the ground on wings of song.
For Song it is that spans the mighty world,
Brings the far near, lends light where all is dark,
Gives sorrow sweetness, and helps man to live
And die more nobly!
| Alfred the Great | |