XXI ROCHER-ST.-POL The Château Beaumesnil XXI

ROCHER-ST.-POL

The Château Beaumesnil

On leaving the forest we passed the small Château. Its conical turret roofs and lofty chimneys, and its flashing finials and girouettes make a brave show above the forest trees. The terraces overlook wide meadow lands through which the river winds until it is lost in the hazy distance.

Roberts, Letters from France.


CLOTILDE
In Geraudun were brothers three,
They had one sister dear;
The cruel Baron her lord must be,
And the fellest and fiercest knight is he
In the country far or near.

He beat that lovely lady sore
With a staff of the apple green,
Till her blood flowed down on the castle floor,
And from head to foot the crimson gore
On her milk-white robe was seen.
.      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .
Her robe was stained with the ruby tide
Once pure as the fleece so white;
And she hied her to the river-side
To wash in the waters bright.

While there she stood three knights so gay
Came riding bold and free.
"Ho! tell us young serving maiden, pray
Where yon castle's lady may be?"

"Alas! no serving maid am I,
But the lady of yonder castle high!"

"O sister, sister, truly tell
Who did this wrong to thee?"

"Dear brothers it was the husband fell
To whom you married me."

.      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .
The brothers spurred their steeds in haste
And the castle soon they gained.
From chamber to chamber they swiftly passed
Nor paused till they reached the tower at last
Where the felon knight remained:

They drew their swords so sharp and bright
They thought on their sister sweet;
They struck together the felon knight,
And his head rolled at their feet!
Translated by Louis S. Costello.


XXII ROCHER-ST.-POL La Tour de la Dame Blanche XXII

ROCHER-ST.-POL

La Tour de la Dame Blanche

AEGINASSOS


THE ISLES OF GREECE
The isles of Greece! The isles of Greece!
Where burning Sappho loved and sung,—
Where grew the arts of war and peace,—
Where Delos rose and Phœbus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet
But all, except their sun, is set.
Byron.

THE ODYSSEY
As one that for a weary space has lain
Lull'd by the song of Circe and her wine
In gardens near the pale of Proserpine,
Where the Ægean isle forgets the main,
And only the low lutes of love complain,
And only shadows of wan lovers pine,—
As such an one were glad to know the brine
Salt on his lips, and the large air again,—
So gladly from the songs of modern speech
Men turn, and see the stars, and feel the free
Shrill wind beyond the close of heavy flowers,
And through the music of the languid hours
They hear, like Ocean on a western beach,
The surge and thunder of the Odyssey.
Andrew Lang.


XXIII Aeginassos The Temple and the Forum XXIII

Aeginassos

The Temple and the Forum


ULYSSES
.      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail;
There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honor and his toil;
Death closes all; but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the paths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Alfred Tennyson.


XXIV Aeginassos The Temple and the Forum XXIV

Aeginassos

The Temple and the Forum

The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS
U . S . A

Transcriber's Notes:

Text uses both Aeginossis and Æginassos.

Some illustrations had to be relocated so that they did not interrupt paragraphs or stanzas of poetry. However, the table of contents links to the illustration.

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