 | The Works of Thomas Love Peacock |  |
144
THE DAPPLED PALFREY.
“My traitorous uncle has wooed for himself:
Her father has sold her for land and for pelf:
My steed, for whose equal the world they might search,
In mockery they borrow to bear her to church.
Her father has sold her for land and for pelf:
My steed, for whose equal the world they might search,
In mockery they borrow to bear her to church.
“Oh! there is one path through the forest so green,
Where thou and I only, my palfrey, have been:
We traversed it oft, when I rode to her bower
To tell my love tale through the rift of the tower.
Where thou and I only, my palfrey, have been:
We traversed it oft, when I rode to her bower
To tell my love tale through the rift of the tower.
“Thou know'st not my words, but thy instinct is good:
By the road to the church lies the path through the wood:
Thy instinct is good, and her love is as true:
Thou wilt see thy way homeward: dear palfrey, adieu.”
By the road to the church lies the path through the wood:
Thy instinct is good, and her love is as true:
Thou wilt see thy way homeward: dear palfrey, adieu.”
They feasted full late and full early they rose,
And church-ward they rode more than half in a doze:
The steed in an instant broke off from the throng,
And pierced the green path, which he bounded along.
And church-ward they rode more than half in a doze:
145
And pierced the green path, which he bounded along.
In vain was pursuit, though some followed pell-mell:
Through bramble and thicket they floundered and fell.
On the backs of their coursers some dozed as before,
And missed not the bride till they reached the church-door.
Through bramble and thicket they floundered and fell.
On the backs of their coursers some dozed as before,
And missed not the bride till they reached the church-door.
The knight from his keep on the forest-bound gazed:
The drawbridge was down, the portcullis was raised:
And true to his hope came the palfrey amain,
With his only loved lady, who checked not the rein.
The drawbridge was down, the portcullis was raised:
And true to his hope came the palfrey amain,
With his only loved lady, who checked not the rein.
The drawbridge went up: the portcullis went down:
The chaplain was ready with bell, book, and gown:
The wreck of the bride-train arrived at the gate:
The bride showed the ring, and they muttered “Too late!”
The chaplain was ready with bell, book, and gown:
The wreck of the bride-train arrived at the gate:
The bride showed the ring, and they muttered “Too late!”
“Not too late for a feast, though too late for a fray:
What's done can't be undone: make peace while you may:”
So spake the young knight, and the old ones complied,
And quaffed a deep health to the bridegroom and bride.
What's done can't be undone: make peace while you may:”
So spake the young knight, and the old ones complied,
And quaffed a deep health to the bridegroom and bride.
| The Works of Thomas Love Peacock | |