A wizard of such dreaded fame, That when, in Salamanca's cave, Him listed his magic wand to wave, The bells would ring in Notre Dame ! Some of his skill he taught to me; And, Warrior, I could say to thee The words that cleft Eildon hills in three, And bridled the Tweed with a curb of stone: But to speak them were a deadly sin; And for having but thought them my heart within, A treble penance must be done. XIV. "When Michael lay on his dying bed, His conscience was awakened; He bethought him of his sinful deed, And he gave me a sign to come with speed: I was in Spain when the morning rose, But I stood by his bed ere evening close. The words may not again be said, 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, That never mortal might therein look ; And never to tell where it was hid, Save at his chief of Branksome's need: And when that need was past and o'er, 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, And his hair did bristle upon his head. XVII. "Lo, Warrior! now the Cross of Red Points to the grave of the mighty dead; To chace the spirits that love the night : Slow moved the Monk to the broad flag-stone, Which the bloody Cross was traced upon : 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. I would you had been there, to see No earthly flame blazed e'er so bright: And, issuing from the tomb, Shewed the Monk's cowl, and visage pale, Danced on the dark-brow'd Warrior's mail, And kissed his waving plume. XIX. Before their eyes the Wizard lay, He seemed some seventy winters old; Like a pilgrim from beyond the sea; 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. |