Classic Poem

Low spake the knight to the peasant girl,
" I tell thee sooth — I am belted Earl;
Fly with me from this garden small,
And thou shalt sit in my castle's hall.

II.

" Thou shalt have pomp, and wealth, and pleasure,
Joys beyond thy fancy's measure;
Here with my sword and horse I stand,
To bear thee away to my distant land.

III.

" Take, thou fairest! this full-blown rose,
A token of Love that as ripely blows. "
With his glove of steel he plucked the token,
But it fell from his gauntlet crushed and broken.

IV.

The maiden exclaimed — " Thou see'st, Sir Knight,
Thy fingers of iron can only smite;
And, like the rose thou hast torn and scattered,
I in thy grasp should be wrecked and shattered. "

V.

She trembled and blushed, and her glances fell,
But she turned from the Knight, and said, " Farewell; "
" Not so, " he cried, " will I lose my prize,
I heed not thy words, but I read thine eyes. "

VI.

He lifted her up in his grasp of steel,
And he mounted and spurred with furious heel;
But her cry drew forth her hoary sire,
Who snatched his bow from above the fire.

VII.

Swift from the valley the warrior fled,
Swifter the bolt of the cross-bow sped;
And the weight that pressed on the fleet-foot horse,
Was the living man, and the woman's corse.

VIII.

That morning the rose was bright of hue;
That morning the maiden was fair to view;
But the evening sun its beauty shed
On the withered leaves, and the maiden dead.