Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs By Walter Thornbury. Illustrated by J. Whistler, F. Walker, John Tenniel, J. D. Watson, W. Small, F. Sandys, G. J. Pinwell, T. Morten, M. J. Lawless, and many others |
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The Battle Painter.
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 | Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs |  |
The Battle Painter.
I
Wild horsemen billowing round a planted flag,Pistols red flashing, sabres reaping fast,
Whirlpools of pikes, maimed men trod underfoot,
The sulphur-smoke of cannon rolling past;
And in the midst a proud white tossing plume,—
The chief's, who, wrestling with a stalwart Croat,
Or Pole, or Turk, yells out his battle-cry,
While hewing madly at the other's throat.
II
You know such pictures; Wouvermanns has doneSome not unlike, with ever a white horse
Focussing out a light amid the gloom,
Giving the masses unity and force.
Always a standard, while sore wounded men
Grapple upon the ground with armour strewn,
And shattered drum and banners wet with gore,
And helmets beaten in and bucklers hewn.
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III
Don Rinaldo de Montalba, battle painter—He who left us many score such things,—
Was wont to rouse his genius, we are told,
Not by deep draughts from the Castalian springs,
By beating charges on a Turkish drum,
Nor clashing cymbals; no, by no device
So tame as these, but by a daring stroke,
A vigorous and chivalrous artifice.
IV
He clothed a figure in a coat of mail,Helmet and cuirass, breastplate, target too,
Tassets and pauldrons, buckled sure and firm,
Each plate of armour fitting close and true;
Then with a giant's huge two-handed sword,
In a feigned fury he drove at the steel,
Slashing it into shreds, with sturdy blows
That might have made the proudest Paynim reel.
V
Having well smitten, hewn, and stabbed, and struck,He calmly placed his sword upon its rack,
And seized his brushes, his strained canvas set,
His easel planted, and with bended back,
And steadfast head bent down, portrayed the scenes
His fancy now was teeming with, and fierce
With furious pencil pictured storms of horse,
And clouds of Pandours, hot at carte and tierce.
VI
Don Rinaldo de Montalba, battle painter,Rudely to us, poets and painters all,
Did teach this simple lesson: still to work
With fiery ardour, turning this earth-ball,
And all in sea and sky, unto our use,
To help us onward up the arduous mount,
Where Phœbus sits enthroned, and sweet below
Ripples with music Aganippe's fount.
| Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs | |