ments that have gone before it; and then with eyes unsealed at last, we shall look back on the life which is gone by.
1 SEN-SA'TION. Impression made up- 13 PETRIFIED. Changed to a stone or on the mind by something acting a stony substance. on the bodily organs; feeling.
2 IR-REP'A-RA-BLE. That cannot be 5 UN-SEALED'. Without a seal, or havrepaired or recovered. ing the seal broken; open.
[This piece is taken from the Lady of the Lake. King James V., of Scotland, under the assumed name of Fitz James, while alone in the wilds of the Highlands had come into the presence of Roderick Dhu, the chief of a rebellious clan, and had been hospitably entertained by him over night. In the morning, after Fitz James had been guided by Roderick Dhu beyond the hostile district, the following scene occurs.]
1. THE Chief in silence strode before,
And reached that torrent's sounding shore,
Which, daughter of three mighty lakes,
From Vennachar in silver breaks.
And here his course the chieftain stayed,
Threw down his target and his plaid',
And to the Lowland warrior said, -
2. "Bold Saxon! to his promise just,
Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust.
This murderous chief, this ruthless4 man,
This head of a rebellious clan,
Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward,
Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard:
Now, man to man, and steel to steel,
A chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel.
See here, all vantageless I stand,
Armed, like thyself, with single brand:
For this is Coilantogle ford,
And thou must keep thee with thy sword.".
3. The Saxon paused: -"I ne'er delayed
When foeman bade me draw my blade;
Nay, more, brave Chief, I vowed thy death:
Yet sure thy fair and generous faith,
And my deep debt for life preserved,
A better meed have well deserved:
Can nought but blood our feud atone?
Are there no means ? “No, stranger, none!
And hear, to fire thy flagging zeal, —
The Saxon cause rests on thy steel;
For thus spoke Fate, by prophet bred
Between the living and the dead:
'Who spills the foremost foeman's life,
His party conquers in the strife.'"-
4. "Then, by my word," the Saxon said,
"The riddle is already read.
Seek yonder brake beneath the cliff,-
There lies Red Murdock,* stark and stiff.
Thus Fate has solved her prophecy,
Then yield to Fate, and not to me.
To James, at Stirling, let us go,
When, if thou wilt be still his foe,
Or if the King shall not agree
To grant thee grace and favor free,
I plight mine honor, oath, and word,
That, to thy native strengths restored,
With each advantage shalt thou stand,
That aids thee now to guard thy land."
* Red Murdock, a treacherous guide, had been killed by Fitz James, the preceding day.
5. Dark lightning flash'd from Roderick's eye-
"Soars thy presumption, then, so high,
Because a wretched kern' ye slew,
Homage to name to Roderick Dhu"?
He yields not, he, to man nor Fate!
Thou add'st but fuel to my hate:
My clansman's blood demands revenge.
Not yet prepared! By Heaven, I change
My thought, and hold thy valor light
As that of some vain carpet-knight,
Who ill deserved my courteous care,
And whose best boast is but to wear
A braid of his fair lady's hair."
6. "I thank thee, Roderick, for the word!
It nerves my heart, it steels my sword;
For I have sworn this braid to stain
In the best blood that warms thy vein.
Now, truce, farewell! and, ruth 10, begone!
Yet think not that by thee alone,
Proud Chief! can courtesy be shown;
Though not from copse, or heath, or cairn",
Start at my whistle clansmen stern,
Of this small horn one feeble blast
Would fearful odds against thee cast.
But fear not doubt not-which thou wilt-
We try this quarrel hilt to hilt."
7. Then each at once his falchion 12 drew,
Each on the ground his scabbard threw,
Each looked to sun, and stream, and plain,
As what they ne'er might see again;
Then foot, and point, and eye opposed,
In dubious strife they darkly closed.
8. Ill fared it then with Roderick Dhu,
That on the field his targe he threw,
Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide
Had death so often dashed aside;
For, trained abroad his arms to wield,
Fitz-James's blade was sword and shield.
He practised every pass and ward,
To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard;
While less expert, though stronger far,
The Gael maintained unequal war.
9. Three times in closing strife they stood,
And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood;
No stinted draught, no scanty tide,
The gushing flood the tartans" dyed.
Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain,
And shower'd his blows like wintry rain;
And, as firm rock, or castle roof,
Against the winter-shower is proof,
The foe, invulnerable still,
Foiled his wild rage by steady skill;
Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand
Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand,
And, backward borne upon the lea,
Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee.
10. "Now, yield ye, or, by Him who made
The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade!"
Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy!
Let recreant yield, who fears to die."
-Like adder darting from his.coil,
Like wolf that dashes through the toil1,
Like mountain-cat who guards her young,
Full at Fitz-James's throat he sprung;
Received, but recked not.of a wound,
And locked his arms his foeman round.
11. Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own!
No maiden's hand is round thee thrown!
That desperate grasp thy frame might feel
Through bars of brass and triple steel! -
They tug, they strain! down, down they go,
The Gael above, Fitz-James below.
The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed;
His knee was planted in his breast;
His clotted locks he backward threw,
Across his brow his hand he drew,
From blood and mist to clear his sight,
Then gleamed aloft his dagger bright!
12. But hate and fury ill supplied
The stream of life's exhausted tide!
And all too late the advantage came,
To turn the odds of deadly game;
For, while the dagger gleamed on high,
Reeled soul and sense, reeled brain and eye
Down came the blow! but in the heath
The erring blade found bloodless sheath.
The struggling foe may now unclasp
The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp;
Unwounded from the dreadful close,
But breathless all, Fitz-James arose.
1 PLAID (Scottish pronunciation plād).
A striped or checkered cloth worn
by the Highlanders of Scotland,
given to Roderick Dhu as head of the clan, and meaning descendant of Alpine.
and indicating by the variety of 4 RUTHLESS. Cruel; pitiless.
its patterns the different Scottish 5 VĂN TAGE-LESS. Without any adclans.
The Scottish Highlander 6 MĒĒD. Reward; recompense. calls himself Gael, and the Low-7 KËRN. A vagrant; a boor; a per landers Saxons. son of no consequence. VICH-AL'PINE (vēk-ǎl'pēn). A name 8 DHŪ. An epithet meaning black.
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