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PRINCE HENRY and ELSIE standing on the terrace at evening.
The sound of bells heard from a distance.
PRINCE HENRY. WE are alone. The wedding guests | |
| Ride down the hill, with plumes and cloaks, | |
| And the descending dark invests | |
| The Niederwald, and all the nests | |
| Among its hoar and haunted oaks. | 5 |
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ELSIE. What bells are those, that ring so slow, | |
| So mellow, musical, and low? | |
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PRINCE HENRY. They are the bells of Geisenheim, | |
| That with their melancholy chime | |
| Ring out the curfew of the sun. | 10 |
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ELSIE. Listen, beloved.
PRINCE HENRY. They are done! | |
| Dear Elsie! many years ago | |
| Those same soft bells at eventide | |
| Rang in the ears of Charlemagne, | |
| As, seated by Fastrada’s side | 15 |
| At Ingelheim, in all his pride | |
| He heard their sound with secret pain. | |
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ELSIE. Their voices only speak to me | |
| Of peace and deep tranquillity, | |
| And endless confidence in thee! | 20 |
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PRINCE HENRY. Thou knowest the story of her ring, | |
| How, when the court went back to Aix, | |
| Fastrada died; and how the king | |
| Sat watching by her night and day, | |
| Till into one of the blue lakes, | 25 |
| Which water that delicious land, | |
| They cast the ring, drawn from her hand: | |
| And the great monarch sat serene | |
| And sad beside the fated shore, | |
| Nor left the land forevermore. | 30 |
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ELSIE. That was true love.
PRINCE HENRY. For him the queen | |
| Ne’er did what thou hast done for me. | |
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ELSIE. Wilt thou as fond and faithful be? | |
| Wilt thou so love me after death? | |
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PRINCE HENRY. In life’s delight, in death’s dismay, | 35 |
| In storm and sunshine, night and day, | |
| In health, in sickness, in decay, | |
| Here and hereafter, I am thine! | |
| Thou hast Fastrada’s ring. Beneath | |
| The calm, blue waters of thine eyes, | 40 |
| Deep in thy steadfast soul it lies, | |
| And, undisturbed by this world’s breath, | |
| With magic light its jewels shine! | |
| This golden ring, which thou hast worn | |
| Upon thy finger since the morn, | 45 |
| Is but a symbol and a semblance, | |
| An outward fashion, a remembrance, | |
| Of what thou wearest within unseen, | |
| O my Fastrada, O my queen! | |
| Behold! the hill-tops all aglow | 50 |
| With purple and with amethyst; | |
| While the whole valley deep below | |
| Is filled, and seems to overflow, | |
| With a fast-rising tide of mist. | |
| The evening air grows damp and chill; | 55 |
Let us go in.
ELSIE. Ah, not so soon. | |
| See yonder fire! It is the moon | |
| Slow rising o’er the eastern hill. | |
| It glimmers on the forest tips, | |
| And through the dewy foliage drips | 60 |
| In little rivulets of light, | |
| And makes the heart in love with night. | |
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PRINCE HENRY. Oft on this terrace, when the day | |
| Was closing, have I stood and gazed, | |
| And seen the landscape fade away, | 65 |
| And the white vapors rise and drown | |
| Hamlet and vineyard, tower and town, | |
| While far above the hill-tops blazed. | |
| But then another hand than thine | |
| Was gently held and clasped in mine; | 70 |
| Another head upon my breast | |
| Was laid, as thine is now, at rest. | |
| Why dost thou lift those tender eyes | |
| With so much sorrow and surprise? | |
| A minstrel’s, not a maiden’s hand, | 75 |
| Was that which in my own was pressed. | |
| A manly form usurped thy place, | |
| A beautiful, but bearded face, | |
| That now is in the Holy Land, | |
| Yet in my memory from afar | 80 |
| Is shining on us like a star. | |
| But linger not. For while I speak, | |
| A sheeted spectre white and tall, | |
| The cold mist climbs the castle wall, | |
| And lays his hand upon thy cheek! They go in. | 85 |
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