With oar or sail at large to rove,
Or tether'd in its wooded cove
'Mid gentle waves that sport around
And rock it with a gurgling sound.
Keel up, it rots upon the strand,
Its gunwale sunken in the sand,
Where suns and tempests warp'd and shrank
Each shatter'd rib and riven plank.
Never again that land-wreck'd craft
Shall feel the billow boom abaft;
Never, when springs the freshening gale,
Take life again from oar or sail :
Nor shall the freight that once it bore
Again be seen on lake or shore.
A foreign land is now her choice,
A foreign sky above her,
And unfamiliar is each voice
Of those that say they love her.
A prince's palace is her home,
And marble floor and gilded dome,
Where festive myriads nightly meet,
Quick echoes of her steps repeat.
And she is gay at times, and light
From her makes many faces bright;
And circling flatterers hem her in,
Assiduous each a word to win,
And smooth as mirrors each the while
Reflects and multiplies her smile.
But fitful were her smiles, nor long
She cast them to that courtly throng;
And should the sound of music fall
Upon her ear in that high hall,
The smile was gone, the eye that shone
So brightly, would be dimm'd anon,
And objectless would then appear
As stretch'd to check the starting tear.
The chords within responsive rung,
For music spoke her native tongue.
And then the gay and glittering crowd
Is heard not, laugh they ne'er so loud;
Nor then is seen the simpering row
Of flatterers, bend they ne'er so low ;
For there before her where she stands,
The mountains rise, the lake expands;
Around the terraced summit twines
The leafy coronal of vines;
Within the watery mirror deep
Nature's calm converse lies asleep;
Above she sees the sky's blue glow,
The forest's varied green below,
And far its vaulted vistas through
A distant grove of darker hue,
Where mounting high from clumps of oak
Curls lightly up the thin gray smoke;
And o'er the boughs that over-bower
The crag, a castle's turrets tower-
An eastern casement mantled o'er
With ivy, flashes back the gleam
Of sun-rise-it was there of yore
She sate to see that sun-rise pour
Its splendour round-she sees no more,
For tears disperse the dream.
Thus seized and speechless had she stood,
Surveying mountain, lake, and wood,
When to her ear came that demand
Had she forgot her native land?
'Twas but a voice within replied
She had forgotten all beside.
For words are weak and most to seek
When wanted fifty-fold,
And then if silence will not speak,
Or trembling lip and changing cheek,
There's nothing told.
But could she have reveal'd to him
Who question'd thus, the vision bright
That ere his words were said grew dim
And vanish'd from her sight,
Easy the answer were to know
And plain to understand,-
That mind and memory both must fail,
And life itself must slacken sail,
And thought its functions must forego,
And fancy lose its latest glow,
Could pictured be less bright and fair
To her whose home and heart are there!
That land, the loveliest that eye can see,
The stranger ne'er forgets, then how should she!
-Cease the soft sounds, the mellow voice is mute,
And quivers to a close that plaintive lady's lute.-
Pass we to matters masculine; to strains
Where weightier themes may pay the reader's pains.
Again disclose we counsels of the wise,
Deeds of the war-like :-let the Curtain rise.
"Oh Lord, what is thys worldys blysse,
That changeth as the mone!
My somer's day in lusty May
Is derked before the none."
THE NOT-BROWNE MAYD.
"I say, ye Commoners, why were ye so stark mad, What frantyk frensy fyll in youre brayne; Where was youre wit and reason ye shuld have had? What willfull foly made yow to ryse agayne Yowre naturall lord ?"
PHILIP VAN ARTEVELDE, Regent of Flanders.
PETER VAN DEN BOSCH.
The Burgomaster and divers Burgesses of Ypres, Officers,
THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, his Uncle, and Heir Presumptive to the Earl of Flanders.
THE DUKE OF BOURBON, also Uncle to the King.
SIR FLEUREANT OF HEURLÉE, a Follower of the Duke of Bourbon. SIR OLIVER OF CLISSON, Constable of France.
SIR JOHN DE VIEN, Admiral of France.
THE LORDS OF SAIMPI, SANXERE, and ST. JUST; SIR RAOUL OF RANEVAL; the LORD OF COUCY, and many other Lords and Knights belonging to the French King's Council.
TRISTRAM OF LESTOVET, Clerk of the Council.
ELĒNA DELLA TORRE, an Italian Lady.
CECILE, her Attendant.
DAME VOORST, a Woman of Ypres.
The SCENE is laid sometimes in FLANDERS and sometimes
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