Thou only bird that singest as thou flyest,
Heaven-mounting lark, that measurest with thy wing
The airy zones, till thou art lost in highest!
Upon the branch the laughing thrushes cling,
About her home the humble linnet wheels,
Around the tower the gathered starlings swing;
These mix their songs and weave their figured reels:
Thou risest in thy lonely joy away,
From the first rapturous note that from thee steals,
Quick, quick, and quicker, till the exalted lay
Is steadied in the golden breadths of light,
'mid mildest clouds that bid thy pinions stay.
The heavens that give would yet sustain thy flight,
And o'er the earth for ever cast thy voice,
If but to gain were still to keep the height
But soon thou sinkest on the fluttering poise
Of the same wings that soared: soon ceasest thou
The song that grew invisible with joys.
Love bids thy fall begin; and thou art now
Dropped back to earth, and of the earth again,
Because that love hath made thy heart to bow.
Thou hast thy mate, thy nest on lowly plain,
Thy timid heart by law ineffable
Is drawn from the high heavens where thou shouldst reign
Earth summons thee by her most tender spell;
For thee there is a silence and a song:
Thy silence in the shadowy earth must dwell,
Thy song in the bright heavens cannot be long
— And best to thee those fates may I compare
Where weakness strives to answer bidding strong.
Lord Gerbert thought in Mano to prepare
An instrument for service high and great,
And for that end to unfold the truth did spare
Joanna's secret would he not repeat
In Mano's ear: the which great pity proved,
And therewithal he practised some deceit,
Hoping, ere Mano knew that he was loved,
That in them both unnourished love would die —
All which fell otherwise than it behoved
Sir Mano being passed forth, the next was I,
The writer of these things that here are told,
Who unto Gerbert entered and stood nigh
Truly most noble was he to behold:
His face was large and mild, his forehead wide,
His long robe fastened close with studs of gold
His piercing eyes o'erran with mighty pride:
At prime he was: strong-limbed, of stature high:
Nor yet to his head had Time his hand applied.
Such was his presence, who now wondrously
Is carried round the world with dark renown,
And fears all men by his strange history.
With him was set the archbishop of the town,
Of whom I spake above: whose life of sin
On his high order brought reproaches down.
And their discourse, whenas I entered in,
Was turned on Mano: whom I heard anon
The vile one to calumniate begin,
And wax in choler, Mano being one
Whom Thurold loved, whom this man deemed his foe
For deeds that in the long past had been done.
Then gan in Gerbert's eyes the flame to glow;
And on the other a strange look he bent,
" Better this good knight mayst thou one day know, "
Said he, " And elsewhere be thy malice spent. "
The other answered, " Wherefore now, I pray,
From thee to me is such a saying sent? "
And Gerbert answered, " Only this I say,
That least of all it fitteth thee to rail:
Nor all I know tell I to thee this day:
But what I may I will: mark thou the tale
A knight named Mannus, of the Lombards, who
Against the Saracen oft rode in mail,
One day, being weary with long travel, drew
Nigh to a gentle river, where was seen
A cottage small, and a low raft thereto
There close beside the bank of grassy green
Lived a brave miller, who his babes maintained
By plying in the barge those banks between:
His course he took wherever might be gained
Grist for his wheel, or would return the same
And by his cottage this bold knight upreined;
The little children there were at their game:
To whom he called with cheery voice and kind,
Bidding them hold his warhorse mild and tame,
Whilst in the cot he might refreshment find.
Yet of them was there none that undertook
The mighty beast in their weak hold to bind:
Till one from out the timid crowd forth broke,
A little boy, and on the bridle laid
His dauntless hand, that with no terror shook;
And drew the great horse forward, nought dismayed
When his full breathing in his face he felt,
And saw his trampling feet: the knight then said,
Well pleased, to the miller, that 'twere but ill dealt
That child so noble should no better be
Than they who in that humble dwelling dwelt
'Sir, 'said the miller, 'he comes not of me
Albeit he among my children fare:
For 'tis seven years since I my barge set free,
'And, floating homeward, found this tender care
Laid underneath the sacks that hold the corn;
But never knew what hand had left him there.
'Not very long the infant had been born,
And him I reared for pity and for ruth.'
Then said the knight, 'Upon that babe forlorn
'As thou hadst pity, this I say in sooth,
Thy pity shall repent thee not; for I,
As best I can, will recompense thy truth.'
Then offered he much gold the child to buy
Whereto the miller presently agreed,
And bade his wife equip him thence to hie;
Who brought him forth anon, and bade God speed,
Making some tears to come: and lastly when
The boy was lifted on the mighty steed,
'From evil woman keep him, 'said she then;
And as with gathered bridle forth they rode,
The miller said, 'Keep him from evil men.'
— " Then with that worthy knight the child abode,
For fifteen years, bearing his foster name,
When the knight died: then forth he took his road
To Count Thuroldus, to whose camp he came
With many, whom the Italian venture brought
From other parts, and love of martial fame.
He is a knight of courage high and haught,
But mild and courteous, just and temperate:
Right worthy are the deeds that he has wrought. "
— " But yet his birth, his rank and race relate, "
The other coldly answered: and return
Received from Gerbert, " For that knowledge wait,
Because the tale may nearly thee concern
When I shall tell it: but another thing
Concerning Mano thou this day shalt learn:
That to Saint Benedict an offering
Him from a child the good knight Mannus gave,
Wrapping within the altar's covering
His little hand: to keep which contract grave
'tis mine to draw him from the worldly throng
By fatherly persuasion, and to save. "
This said, his eyes on the archbishop long
He bent with firmness and austerity,
The while to me his words he did prolong:
And this the sum — that I should instantly
For Mano seek, and bid him be of heart
From Gerbert, and not muse on fantasy:
And that to Gerbert's ear I should impart
Whate'er he did, still urging his return
Across the Alps by friendship's winning art.
— This lesson then from Gerbert did I learn:
And further, that with Mano I should go
To Italy, and still with him sojourn:
Right glad was I that it was ordered so.