 | At Sunset |  |
120
A LEGEND OF BRITTANY
In Carnac's field a silent army stands,
Stands without feet and signals without hands;
No human feature crowns their upright form;
Nor human impulse their stern height doth warm.
Stands without feet and signals without hands;
No human feature crowns their upright form;
Nor human impulse their stern height doth warm.
Cornely, holy man, remembered here,
To every hornèd beast a guardian dear,
Was one day followed by a heathen band,
Who to ensnare his sacred life had planned.
To every hornèd beast a guardian dear,
Was one day followed by a heathen band,
Who to ensnare his sacred life had planned.
Seaward he fled, but when the strand he neared,
Nor helpful skiff, nor friendly sail appeared.
Then in his hearing some one seemed to say:
“Thou man of God, wherefore dost flee away?
Stand fast and show on this appointed spot,
The puissance which thy heathen foe have not.”
Nor helpful skiff, nor friendly sail appeared.
Then in his hearing some one seemed to say:
“Thou man of God, wherefore dost flee away?
Stand fast and show on this appointed spot,
The puissance which thy heathen foe have not.”
Then turned Cornely, then erect he stood,
And held on high the symbol of the Rood,
While from the skies a voice said audibly:
“Your hearts are stone, stone let your bodies be.”
And held on high the symbol of the Rood,
While from the skies a voice said audibly:
“Your hearts are stone, stone let your bodies be.”
121
So, carved in granite, did their features fade,
Of each stark form a monument was made;
There, in stern drill, they wait the Judgment day,
When the Saint's prayers may melt their bonds away.
Of each stark form a monument was made;
There, in stern drill, they wait the Judgment day,
When the Saint's prayers may melt their bonds away.
| At Sunset | |