Стихи и поэмы

Чернокнижная власть отступила.

Но воздвигнуть король повелел цитадель
Возле озера, видно, недаром:
Он живал там подолгу, — и помнят досель
О монархе, что в городе Экс-ля-Шапель
Не сумел воспротивиться чарам.

KING CHARLEMAIN.

It was strange that he loved her, for youth was gone by,
 And the bloom of her beauty was fled:
'Twas the glance of the harlot that gleam'd in her eye,
And all but the Monarch could plainly descry
From whence came her white and her red.

Yet he thought with Agatha none might compare,
And he gloried in wearing her chain;
The court was a desert if she were not there,
To him she alone among women seem'd fair,
Such dotage possess'd Charlemain.

The soldier, the statesman, the courtier, the maid,
Alike the proud leman detest;
And the good old Archbishop, who ceased to upbraid,
Shook his grey head in sorrow, and silently pray'd
That he soon might consign her to rest.

A joy ill-dissembled soon gladdens them all,
For Agatha sickens and dies.
And now they are ready with bier and with pall,
The tapers gleam gloomy amid the high hall,
And the strains of the requiem arise.

But Charlemain sent them in anger away,
For she should not be buried, he said;
And despite of all counsel, for many a day,
Where array'd in her costly apparel she lay,
The Monarch would sit by the dead.

The cares of the kingdom demand him in vain,
And the army cry out for their Lord;
The Lombards, the fierce misbelievers of Spain,
Now ravage the realms of the proud Charlemain,
And still he unsheathes not the sword.

The Soldiers they clamour, the Monks bend in prayer
In the quiet retreats of the cell;
The Physicians to counsel together repair,
And with common consent, one and all they declare
That his senses are bound by a spell.

Then with relics protected, and confident grown,
And telling devoutly his beads,
The good old Archbishop, when this was made known,
Steals in when he hears that the corpse is alone,
And to look for the spell he proceeds.

He searches with care, though with tremulous haste,
For the spell that bewitches the King;
And under her tongue for security placed,
Its margin with mystical characters traced,
At length he discovers a ring.

Rejoicing he seized it and hasten'd away,
The Monarch re-enter'd the room;
The enchantment was ended, and suddenly gay
He bade the attendants no longer delay,
But bear her with speed to the tomb.

Now merriment, joyaunce, and feasting again
Enliven'd the palace of Aix;
And now by his heralds did King Charlemain
Invite to his palace the courtier train
To hold a high festival day.

And anxiously now for the festival day
The highly-born Maidens prepare;
And now, all apparell'd in costly array,
Exulting they come to the palace of Aix,
Young and aged, the brave and the fair.

Oh! happy the Damsel who 'mid her compeers
For a moment engaged the King's eye!