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PETER KING.
A LEGEND OF CRAVEN.
“Wake, Minstrel of Rylestone, arise and be gone!
Leave thy bonny young bride to her slumbers alone;
At Kirkstall, this even, a festival gay
Demands all thy music—then up and away!”
Leave thy bonny young bride to her slumbers alone;
At Kirkstall, this even, a festival gay
Demands all thy music—then up and away!”
The Minstrel arose, though the summons but seemed
To his half-sleeping ear as a thing he had dreamed,
When he saw at the casement distinctly a youth,
And found in a moment the message was sooth.
To his half-sleeping ear as a thing he had dreamed,
When he saw at the casement distinctly a youth,
And found in a moment the message was sooth.
He donned his green garb, and his wild harp he slung,
Then o'er moorland and vale like a roebuck he sprung;
Though ere he reached Kirkstall, the summer-eve's gleam
Lay rich upon abbey, and village and stream.
Then o'er moorland and vale like a roebuck he sprung;
Though ere he reached Kirkstall, the summer-eve's gleam
Lay rich upon abbey, and village and stream.
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Full gay was the place that received him—o'er all
A light-flood was cast from the lamps round the hall,
Where the maidens of Aire sat—like naiads—in ranks,
More sweet than the blossoms that spring on her banks!
A light-flood was cast from the lamps round the hall,
Where the maidens of Aire sat—like naiads—in ranks,
More sweet than the blossoms that spring on her banks!
And there, too, were youths bent on frolic and glee,
And monks from the abbey the joyance to see,
(For the monks of that time saw in mirth nothing wrong)
And the night sped away with the dance and the song.
And monks from the abbey the joyance to see,
(For the monks of that time saw in mirth nothing wrong)
And the night sped away with the dance and the song.
But there was one Maiden, unrivalled in shape,
In beauty the rose-bud, in ripeness the grape!
Though sleepy and calm, yet her half-shut blue eye
Threw an arrow more sure than the openest by.
In beauty the rose-bud, in ripeness the grape!
Though sleepy and calm, yet her half-shut blue eye
Threw an arrow more sure than the openest by.
The Minstrel beheld her, and felt, as he viewed,
Emotions he looked on as vanished, renewed—
Ah, Minstrel, beware! in that wish there is crime,
Remember thy vows, and suppress it in time.
Emotions he looked on as vanished, renewed—
Ah, Minstrel, beware! in that wish there is crime,
Remember thy vows, and suppress it in time.
Of his Lucy, her love and her beauty he thought,
And her image before him, by effort, he brought;
The bodiless shape, like a morning dream, fled—
And there stood the beautiful Stranger instead!
And her image before him, by effort, he brought;
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And there stood the beautiful Stranger instead!
Why lengthen the tale of his villany? Now,
In the arms of a leman forgetting his vow,
He thinks not, nor wishes, from Kirkstall to roam,
Nor to sooth the sad heart that is breaking at home.
In the arms of a leman forgetting his vow,
He thinks not, nor wishes, from Kirkstall to roam,
Nor to sooth the sad heart that is breaking at home.
The news reached that home; and poor Lucy must weep,
But her soul it was high, and her love it was deep—
She saw that Dishonour was tracking his path,
And she thought on his state more in sorrow than wrath.
But her soul it was high, and her love it was deep—
She saw that Dishonour was tracking his path,
And she thought on his state more in sorrow than wrath.
But how shall she act in this delicate case?
Oh! how shall she rescue her love from disgrace?
Nor kindred nor friends any aid could afford,
And she flew to the wizard, hight Roger De Worde.
Oh! how shall she rescue her love from disgrace?
Nor kindred nor friends any aid could afford,
And she flew to the wizard, hight Roger De Worde.
The wizard she found in the Knave Knoll Cave—
His stature was tall, and his visage was grave;
But the power lay neither in look nor in form
That could sink the grim winds, or arouse the wildstorm!
His stature was tall, and his visage was grave;
But the power lay neither in look nor in form
That could sink the grim winds, or arouse the wildstorm!
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By the spells which he framed in the Knave Knoll Cave,
He could force the strong sprites of the land and the wave
To veil at his bidding the labouring Moon,
Or wreck on Madeira the Spanish galleon!
He could force the strong sprites of the land and the wave
To veil at his bidding the labouring Moon,
Or wreck on Madeira the Spanish galleon!
His answer to Lucy was spoke in a tone
That startled the bats from his dwelling-place lone—
“I grant thee thy boon, if, sans taper or torch,
Thou meet me at midnight in Rylestone church porch?”
That startled the bats from his dwelling-place lone—
“I grant thee thy boon, if, sans taper or torch,
Thou meet me at midnight in Rylestone church porch?”
Love is stronger than Death, and it mocketh at Fear—
Yet Lucy's heart sunk as the moment drew near;
And she trembled with terror to hear her quick tread
Returned from the tomb-stones and graves of the dead!
Yet Lucy's heart sunk as the moment drew near;
And she trembled with terror to hear her quick tread
Returned from the tomb-stones and graves of the dead!
Half fainting, she reached the dark porch; and in sooth
Began to have doubts of the dread wizard's truth,
When his voice bade her welcome, in accents as hoarse
And broken as those of a vivified corse!
Began to have doubts of the dread wizard's truth,
When his voice bade her welcome, in accents as hoarse
And broken as those of a vivified corse!
“Have courage!” he muttered, “and soon shall thine arms
Recover thy mate from a paramour's charms;
Nor ever again, if there's truth in his star,
Shall he leave his fair cottage as fast—or as far.”
Recover thy mate from a paramour's charms;
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Shall he leave his fair cottage as fast—or as far.”
“Have courage!” the wizard repeated; then called
On his aids, in a tone that her spirit appalled.
At once growled the thunder, the lightning flashed past—
And she saw the grim wizard, distinct, and aghast.
On his aids, in a tone that her spirit appalled.
At once growled the thunder, the lightning flashed past—
And she saw the grim wizard, distinct, and aghast.
“Have courage!” the wizard repeated. Again
He called, and the lightning came mingled with rain;
While shapes, as of fiends, she beheld in the light,
And her heart almost died as they vanished in night.
He called, and the lightning came mingled with rain;
While shapes, as of fiends, she beheld in the light,
And her heart almost died as they vanished in night.
“Have courage!” repeated the mighty De Worde,
“He comes!”—The wind rose, and a tempest it roared;
Against the church steeple a body is blown,
And it falls on the porch-flag with crash and with groan!
“He comes!”—The wind rose, and a tempest it roared;
Against the church steeple a body is blown,
And it falls on the porch-flag with crash and with groan!
“Foul wizard!” cried Lucy—distracted that hour—
“Accurst be thy kindness! Accurst be thy power!
Love, faded a space, may revive and re-bloom;
But where is our hope when the heart's in the tomb?”
“Accurst be thy kindness! Accurst be thy power!
Love, faded a space, may revive and re-bloom;
But where is our hope when the heart's in the tomb?”
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Loud laughed the dread wizard—“Fear nothing for him,
My imps have disabled him but of a limb,
Which henceforth may prove an effectual bar
To his leaving his cottage as fast—or as far!”
My imps have disabled him but of a limb,
Which henceforth may prove an effectual bar
To his leaving his cottage as fast—or as far!”
The Harp in the green dales of Craven no more
Is touched by the hand of the bard—as of yore;
But her hamlets and towns to the music still ring,
Awaked by the race of the famed Peter King.
Is touched by the hand of the bard—as of yore;
But her hamlets and towns to the music still ring,
Awaked by the race of the famed Peter King.
I have seen them—the violin-bag under arm—
Like their ancestor halting to cottage or farm,
A warning to bards, while the lineage survives,
As a spell-ride they dread to be true to their mives!
Like their ancestor halting to cottage or farm,
A warning to bards, while the lineage survives,
As a spell-ride they dread to be true to their mives!
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