Poems and Romances :: :: University of Virginia Library

She did not fear the journey,
The dawn was dewy bright,
And evermore the Castle
She loved was full in sight,
Though she must pass a desert
To find her own true knight.

She took three dewy roses,
And bathed them in the well,
Whose water had more virtue
Than I have grace to tell.

Of this you may be certain,
Whether she went or stayed,
The white rose gave her sunshine,
And the red roses shade.

A lion walked behind her,
A white dove flew before,
And so she took her journey
Along the river shore.

At first she went on bluebells,
Her kirtle swept the dew,
And then on briar-roses
That pierced her white feet through.

And then upon a meadow
Whose grass was fair to see,
And yet as she crossed over
She sank above her knee.

She came into a cornfield;
Her lily feet were sore;
And as she sat and rested
She heard the lion roar.

She passed from out the cornfield,
And stones were on the shore;
She could not see the white dove,
It flew so far before.

And ever as she journeyed,
Still hotter grew the day;
The Castle as she neared it
Showed yet more far away.

The sky was hot above her,
The sand was hot below,
The roses in her bosom
Began to burn like snow.

And though she went in sunshine,
Clouds blackened all around,
An evil smell of corpses
Steamed up from the dry ground.

Whenas the clouds were scattered,
She stood upon a plain;
Before her and behind her
Were men and women slain,

And as the sun was setting
There fell a bloody rain.

Before her and behind her
Stood up three caitiff men,
And suddenly the Castle
Had vanished from her ken.

Lucilla was a-weary,
Yet would not leave her quest,
The white dove's wings were drooping,
It nestled in her breast.

The first of all the caitiffs
Said, “You shall come with me,
Unto our master's palace
Under the pearly sea.”

Lucilla said, “I journey
Unto my own true knight,
At midnight is my bridal
In Castle Heart's Delight.”

Then all laid hands upon her,
Lucilla veiled her head,

They drew their swords to slay her,
And not a word she said,
But as she kissed her roses,
They fell among the dead.

She looked for light or landmark
In the dark desert land,
For even her dear roses
Had vanished from her hand.

Next moment she was standing
Alone on the seashore,
And then she saw the Castle,
And heard the lion roar.

She stood alone and bleeding,
And she was sore afraid;
She looked to see a vessel,
And none were near to aid.

She said, “Though I were willing
On pilgrimage to die,
It would be very bitter
Now, with the goal so nigh.”

The white dove's wings were stronger,
She flew up into heaven;
Lucilla saw the stars shine out
Until she counted seven.

The white dove up in heaven
Flew far into the west;
Lucilla sat to watch her
With spirit full of rest.

With open jaws the lion
Sprang at her white-veiled head;
Lo, as it sank in slumber,
The lion vanishèd.

Her head was bowed in slumber,
The night wind froze her breath;
Peering beneath her eyelids
She saw the face of death.

They found her in the morning
Beside the cottage door,
Lying beneath three rose-trees
Which grew not there before.
Her robes were stained with travel,
Her maiden flesh with gore.

So they cut down the rose-trees,—
Two red ones and a white,—
And said, “We will not journey
To Castle Heart's Delight,
Nor leave our village true-loves
For any fairy knight.”

But still the Chrisom children,
In waking dreams at night,
See Queen Lucilla beckon
From Castle Heart's Delight.