 | English melodies |  |
61
A HOLLOW AND A WHISTLING WIND.
A hollow and a whistling wind
Across the mountain blows,
The heavy vapour hangs unmov'd
Above the lingering snows:
A glare is in the eastern sky,
A dull and reddish glare,
The dawning of a wintry day,
Behind the forest bare!
Across the mountain blows,
The heavy vapour hangs unmov'd
Above the lingering snows:
A glare is in the eastern sky,
A dull and reddish glare,
The dawning of a wintry day,
Behind the forest bare!
A signal on the narrow path
That skirts the misty hill,
A voice beneath the castle-wall,—
But the wind is never still:
And lo, from out the postern-gate
A maiden ventures slow;
Her step as soft as moonlight steals
Across the silent snow!
That skirts the misty hill,
A voice beneath the castle-wall,—
But the wind is never still:
And lo, from out the postern-gate
A maiden ventures slow;
Her step as soft as moonlight steals
Across the silent snow!
62
One issued from the postern-gate,
But two speed down the land
Between the river and the rock,
Where tower and chapel stand:
All pale they reach the gothic door—
It opens to their touch;
The vow is said—the rite is read—
They're one—who love so much!
But two speed down the land
Between the river and the rock,
Where tower and chapel stand:
All pale they reach the gothic door—
It opens to their touch;
The vow is said—the rite is read—
They're one—who love so much!
But hark! a trampling sound is heard
Above the north wind drear;
A shout, a crash, and in men dash
With torch, and sword, and spear!
In vain the maiden clings to save,
Too swift their sharp swords meet;
A brother's blade her love hath laid
A corpse beside her feet!
Above the north wind drear;
A shout, a crash, and in men dash
With torch, and sword, and spear!
In vain the maiden clings to save,
Too swift their sharp swords meet;
A brother's blade her love hath laid
A corpse beside her feet!
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