XIV. "When Michael lay on his dying bed, His conscience was awakened; He bethought him of his sinful deed, That he spoke to me, on death-bed laid; And pile it in heaps above his grave. XV. "I swore to bury his Mighty Book, Again the volume to restore. I buried him on St. Michael's night, When the bell tolled One, and the moon was bright; And I dug his chamber among the dead, When the floor of the chancel was stained red, That his patron's Cross might over him wave, And scare the fiends from the Wizard's grave. XVI. "It was a night of woe and dread, When Michael in the tomb I laid! Strange sounds along the chancel past, The banners waved without a blast,” Still spoke the Monk, when the bell tolled ONE !— I tell you, that a braver man Than William of Deloraine, good at need, Against a foe ne'er spurred a steed; Yet somewhat was he chilled with dread, D XVII. "Lo, Warrior! now, the Cross of Red Points to the grave of the mighty dead; To chase the spirits that love the night : Until the eternal doom shall be."— Slow moved the Monk to the broad flag-stone, He pointed to a secret nook; An iron bar the Warrior took ; And the Monk made a sign with his withered hand, The grave's huge portal to expand. XVIII. With beating heart to the task he went; His sinewy frame o'er the grave-stone bent; Till the toil-drops fell from his brows, like rain. It was by dint of passing strength, That he moved the massy stone at length. Shewed the Monk's cowl, and visage pale, XIX. Before their eyes the Wizard lay, Like a pilgrim from beyond the sea: His left hand held his Book of Might; A silver cross was in his right; The lamp was placed beside his knee : High and majestic was his look, At which the fellest fiends had shook, And all unruffled was his face : They trusted his soul had gotten grace. XX. Often had William of Deloraine Rode through the battle's bloody plain, And trampled down the warriors slain, And neither known remorse or awe; Yet now remorse and awe he own'd; His breath came thick, his head swam round, When this strange scene of death he saw. Bewildered and unnerved he stood, And the priest prayed fervently, and loud: |