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The bridal of Vaumond

A Metrical Romance

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VIII.

“Hah! where the priest? the altar where”
“The priest and altar both are near”—
Then heaving on its hinges hoarse,
The portal op'd, by unseen force;
Broad and deep the chapel show'd,
Where granite columns darkly stood;
The marvel, since the days of eld
What power each giant mass upheld.
All rudely character'd, the dome
Conceal'd their capitals in gloom
Of stones immense, the floor far spread
Gave hollow echo to their tread;
But other sound was none to chase
The awful silence of the place.
Far, in the darksome distance gleaming,
A many-colour'd light was streaming—
There should the altar be—
There should a Saviour's love divine
Be present in his mystic sign;

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But the lady's soul within her sunk,
And all unknowing why, she shrunk,
As she look'd on the pageantry.