Thus still Ambition strives her crimes to shade. 'O, rather deem 't was stern necessity! Self-preservation bade, and I must kill or die. VIII 'And if Florinda's shrieks alarmed the air, If she invoked her absent sire in vain And on her knees implored that I would spare, -- Know by their bearing to disguise their mood:' But Conscience here, as if in high disdain, Sent to the Monarch's cheek the burning bloodHe stayed his speech abrupt — and up the prelate stood. IX 'O hardened offspring of an iron race! What of thy crimes, Don Roderick, shall I say? What alms or prayers or penance can efface Murder's dark spot, wash treason's stain away! For the foul ravisher how shall I pray, Who, scarce repentant, makes his crime his boast? How hope Almighty vengeance shall delay, Unless, in mercy to yon Christian host, He spare the shepherd lest the guiltless sheep be lost.' X Then kindled the dark tyrant in his mood, And to his brow returned its dauntless gloom; 'And welcome then,' he cried, 'be blood for blood, For treason treachery, for dishonour doom!. Yet will I know whence come they or by whom. Show, for thou canst give forth the fated key, And guide me, priest, to that mysterious room Where, if aught true in old tradition be, His nation's future fates a Spanish king shall see.' 1 1 ΧΙ 'Ill-fated Prince! recall the desperate word, Nor shall it ever ope, old records say, What time his empire totters to decay, And treason digs beneath her fatal mine, And high above impends avenging wrath divine.' XII 'Prelate! a monarch's fate brooks no delay; Lead on!' The ponderous key the old man took, 1 See Note 111. And held the winking lamp, and led the way, And, as the key the desperate king essayed, And twice he stopped and twice new effort made, Till the huge bolts rolled back and the loud hinges brayed. XIII Long, large, and lofty was that vaulted hall; Carved o'er with signs and characters unknown. A paly light, as of the dawning, shone Through the sad bounds, but whence they could not spy, For window to the upper air was none; Yet by that light Don Roderick could descry Wonders that ne'er till then were seen by mortal eye. XIV Grim sentinels, against the upper wall, Of molten bronze, two Statues held their place; Massive their naked limbs, their stature tall, Their frowning foreheads golden circles grace. Moulded they seemed for kings of giant race, That lived and sinned before the avenging flood; This grasped a scythe, that rested on a mace; This spread his wings for flight, that pondering stood, Each stubborn seemed and stern, immutable of mood. XV Fixed was the right-hand giant's brazen look Whose iron volume loaded his huge hand; 'LO, DESTINY and TIME! to whom by Heaven The guidance of the earth is for a season given.' -- XVI Even while they read, the sand-glass wastes away; At once descended with the force of thunder, And gave to Roderick's view new sights of fear and wonder. XVII .: For they might spy beyond that mighty breach Realms as of Spain in visioned prospect laid, 3 Castles and towers, in due proportion each, As by some skilful artist's hand portrayed: Here, crossed by many a wild Sierra's shade And boundless plains that tire the traveller's eye; There, rich with vineyard and with olive glade, Or deep-embrowned by forests huge and high, Or washed by mighty streams that slowly murmured by. XVIII And here, as erst upon the antique stage Passed forth the band of masquers trimly led, '' In various forms and various equipage, While fitting strains the hearer's fancy fed; So, to sad Roderick's eye in order spread, Successive pageants filled that mystic scene, Showing the fate of battles' ere they bled, And issue of events that had not been; And ever and anon strange sounds were heard betwe XIX First shrilled an unrepeated female shriek! . It seemed as if Don Roderick knew the call, For the bold blood was blanching in his cheek. |