Porphyro will leave me here to fade and pine.— Though thou forsakest a deceived thing ;A dove forlorn and lost with sick unpruned wing." XXXVIII. "My Madeline! sweet dreamer! lovely bride! Say, may I be for aye thy vassal blest? Thy beauty's shield, heart-shaped and vermeil dyed? Ah, silver shrine, here will I take my rest After so many hours of toil and quest, A famish'd pilgrim,-saved by miracle. Though I have found, I will not rob thy nest Saving of thy sweet self; if thou think'st well To trust, fair Madeline, to no rude infidel.” XXXIX. "Hark! 'tis an elfin storm from faery land, For o'er the southern moors I have a home for thee." E XL. She hurried at his words, beset with fears, In all the house was heard no human sound. The arras, rich with horseman, hawk, and hound, Flutter'd in the besieging wind's uproar ; And the long carpets rose along the gusty floor. XLI. They glide, like phantoms, into the wide hall! Like phantoms to the iron porch they glide, Where lay the Porter, in uneasy sprawl, With a huge empty flagon by his side: The wakeful bloodhound rose, and shook his hide, But his sagacious eye an inmate owns: By one, and one, the bolts full easy slide :The chains lie silent on the footworn stones; The key turns, and the door upon its hinges groans. XLII. And they are gone: ay, ages long ago Of witch, and demon, and large coffin-worm, Were long be-nightmared. Angela the old Died palsy-twitch'd, with meagre face deform; The Beadsman, after thousand aves told, For aye unsought-for slept among his ashes cold. |