Flower Pieces and other poems By William Allingham: With two designs by Dante Gabriel Rossetti |
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LADY ALICE. |
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 | Flower Pieces and other poems |  |
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LADY ALICE.
I.
Now what doth Lady Alice so late on the turret stair,
Without a lamp to light her, but the diamond in her hair,
When every arching passage overflows with shallow gloom,
And dreams float through the castle, into every silent room?
Without a lamp to light her, but the diamond in her hair,
When every arching passage overflows with shallow gloom,
And dreams float through the castle, into every silent room?
She trembles at her footsteps, altho' they fall so light;
Through the turret loopholes she sees the wild midnight;
Broken vapours streaming across the stormy sky;
Down the empty corridors the blast doth moan and cry.
Through the turret loopholes she sees the wild midnight;
Broken vapours streaming across the stormy sky;
Down the empty corridors the blast doth moan and cry.
She steals along a gallery; she pauses by a door;
And fast her tears are dropping down upon the oaken floor;
And thrice she seems returning—but thrice she turns again:—
How heavy lies the cloud of sleep on that old father's brain!
And fast her tears are dropping down upon the oaken floor;
And thrice she seems returning—but thrice she turns again:—
How heavy lies the cloud of sleep on that old father's brain!
122
Oh, well it were that never shouldst thou waken from thy sleep!
For wherefore should they waken, who waken but to weep?
No more, no more beside thy bed doth Peace a vigil keep,
But Woe,—a lion that awaits thy rousing for its leap.
For wherefore should they waken, who waken but to weep?
No more, no more beside thy bed doth Peace a vigil keep,
But Woe,—a lion that awaits thy rousing for its leap.
II.
An afternoon of April, no sun appears on high,
But a moist and yellow lustre fills the deepness of the sky:
And through the castle-gateway, left empty and forlorn,
Along the leafless avenue an honour'd bier is borne.
But a moist and yellow lustre fills the deepness of the sky:
And through the castle-gateway, left empty and forlorn,
Along the leafless avenue an honour'd bier is borne.
They stop. The long line closes up like some gigantic worm;
A Shape is standing in the path, a wan and ghost-like form,
Which gazes fixedly; nor moves, nor utters any sound;
Then, like a statue built of snow, sinks noiseless to the ground.
A Shape is standing in the path, a wan and ghost-like form,
Which gazes fixedly; nor moves, nor utters any sound;
Then, like a statue built of snow, sinks noiseless to the ground.
And tho' her clothes are ragged, and tho' her feet are bare,
And tho' all wild and tangled falls her heavy silk-brown hair;
Tho' from her eyes the brightness, from her cheeks the bloom is fled,
They know their Lady Alice, the darling of the dead.
And tho' all wild and tangled falls her heavy silk-brown hair;
Tho' from her eyes the brightness, from her cheeks the bloom is fled,
They know their Lady Alice, the darling of the dead.
123
With silence in her own old room the fainting form they lay,
Where all things stand unalter'd since the night she fled away:
But who—but who—shall bring to life her father from the clay?
But who shall give her back again her heart of a former day?
Where all things stand unalter'd since the night she fled away:
But who—but who—shall bring to life her father from the clay?
But who shall give her back again her heart of a former day?
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